


Leia

by Xayden



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Bottom Gaara (Naruto), Complicated Relationships, Dom Original Male Character, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Gaara (Naruto)-centric, Gaara Needs a Hug (Naruto), Gaara needs love so he's going to get it damn it, Gaara/Original Male Character, Gay Male Character, Gay sex (when they're of age), Gen, Hokage Uzumaki Naruto, Kazekage Gaara (Naruto), M/M, Multi, Other, Strong Haruno Sakura, Switch Male Original Character, Switch gaara (naruto), Top Gaara (Naruto), Yaoi, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:34:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 54,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xayden/pseuds/Xayden
Summary: A strange, quirky genjutsu user and a so-called monster learn how to love each other. (Gaara x Male!OC) (Hinted Various Male!Ocs x Male Canon characters)
Relationships: Gaara (Naruto)/Original Male Character(s), Haku (Naruto)/Original Female Character(s), Hatake Kakashi/Original Male Character(s), Sai (Naruto)/Original Male Character(s), Uchiha Itachi/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter One: So It Begins

Sinking.

He was sinking beneath the depths of his sanity, hand reaching out in the hopes that anyone would reach out to grasp onto it, pulling me from the black depths that seemed so interested in pulling him to the bottom of wherever it was that he was lost within. Bright blues swam upward to look above him with a foggy grasp on what was to be his reality, body feeling so heavy despite the ease that he was floating down further and further away from the surface.

"-i"

Such a soft, pretty voice.

It was such a shame that it was so far away.

"-I!"

On second thought..maybe it was closer than he thought.

A soft sigh escaped the lips of the Saito heir before his eyes closed within his dream, mind overpowering the illusion and bringing him back to the grasp of reality as those blues slowly opened in reality, a small smirk forming across those pale lips as those cat-like blues danced with a mischievous light as they took in the form of his cute little teammate. Yuna Tsukino was easily someone who was more than capable of catching someone's eye with that pale blue hair and those bright blue eyes along with those very pretty features. It was almost a given that she would grow to be a very stunning kunoichi, especially when one took into consideration that she had a very gentle and patient demeanor along with an affinity for medical ninjutsu.

She was going to make some lucky bastard very happy one day.

"Now, now Yuna. I was having a very nice dream and you had to go and wake me up."

That voice was silky and smooth, as he purred softly up at the kunoichi. A smile akin to a cat who finally managed to eat the prized canary crossing his lips as he slowly sat up, taking the hand offered to him by his teammate as he finally stood up. A soft groan left him a moment later as he finally stretched, wincing when he managed to pop his back before his gaze fell upon the blue-haired kunoichi who leaned against the pillar, that smile widening as he all but skipped to her side, cool hand lifting to gently lift the girl's chin so those pretty eyes met his own as his free hand moved to cage her in. He slowly moved down towards, smiling once again when he saw those eyes widening and the slightest bit of color forming on those cheeks.

She was way too cute.

"I think I deserve a little present from you for being such a good sport and waking up when you called for me, don't you?"

Closer and closer he leaned in, smile widening as he could almost feel those pretty lips against his own before he felt the familiar presence of the famed fun killer behind him, that burning, irritated, surge in his teammate's normally pleasantly cool chakra causing a heavy sigh to leave him as he mentally counted down the seconds. He knew that he was about to be sent flying away by the nightmare that was their third teammate.

Three.

Two.

One.

As if it was clockwork, the long-haired male found himself laying on the ground once again once his mental timer hit zero. Dazed blues blinked curiously up at the sky as he tried to recall just what had happened and how he had ended up on the ground when he had just been by Yuna's side only seconds before, pieces clicking into place a moment later as his unamused gaze fell upon the glaring third member of Team One and it all came falling back into place.

The nerve of that hard-headed Akio!

The purple-haired illusionist somehow managed to calm his growing anger as he sat up, breathing heavily before those cat-like blues turned upon their glaring teammate as a low hiss finally left the long-haired male, what little patience he had left at its end as he finally turned to confront the one who always managed to ruin his fun.

"Surely you do know that it is not necessary for you to throw me each and every time you see me with our teammate, Akio. Yuna is more than capable of telling me if she is uncomfortable with my advances. Perhaps you should use that brain of yours before I decide to lock you into a genjutsu so powerful that you will not be able to find your way out of it for the next three months!"

"I would like to see you try you-"

"Ah- Please do not fight you two. Now is most certainly not the time or place. Ryosuke-sensei will be here soon and the last thing we need is for him to catch you two fighting like a bunch of-"

"Children, children. I thought we had all grown too close for a bunch of silly arguments. I'm pretty sure I told the three of you that I need you all to be on your best behavior. That means no fighting, Yuuki, or Akio! The Hokage is trusting us to accompany a squad of genin fresh from the academy and as I said before, you all need to be on your best behavior!"

The three genin in question fell silent for a long moment before each of them turned, their gazes falling upon the form of their sensei. Each of them had a very different reaction to his sudden arrival. The Ninjutsu user Akio simply looked away as he huffed silently in protest, irritated with the older man's interference. The young woman on their team hung onto every word that the older man said before looking at the other members of her team with a sheepish smile while Yuuki easily had the most memorable reaction out of the three.

He simply smirked.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with who we're going to be teaming up with, would it sensei? I could have sworn I heard something about Team Seven getting a higher ranked mission after their version of Akio complained to the Hokage himself about how boring the missions are. Along with some other particularly tasty gossip about their sensei being none other than your long-time crush, Sensei."

"That would certainly explain why Ryosuke-sensei is on edge. Hatake-sensei is the Jonin for that team, isn't he? At least that is what I have heard."

"Who hasn't heard about that by now? It's like someone not knowing about Sensei's crush on him. Everyone has heard about that by now, the only person who doesn't know at this point is Hatake-Sensei himself, which is kind of sad considering that he and Ryosuke-sensei grew up together. They have been friends since childhood. You'd think by now-"

"I don't know how any of you heard about that, but I'm going to be kind and give you a chance to run before I come after all of you. Make fun of my issues, will you? Let's see how well all of you do once you're busy dodging whatever I feel like throwing at you."

For a moment the three genin simply stood there, staring at the older man as if they were contemplating just how serious he was before that familiar dangerous glint in his eyes paired with the dark smile was enough to send the three running. They ran fast, as though the hounds of hell were on their heels, Yuuki being the only one who was clever enough to duck and hide while subjecting a few passersby to a minor genjutsu that should help bide him some time by having the people distract his sensei.

He was not going to be an easy target, that was for damn sure.


	2. Chapter 2: Mission To The Land Of Waves!

To no one's surprise, Akio had been the first to fall to his sensei's wrath.

Despite that, Yuuki had not lasted as long as he had hoped.

He had been the next one to been found by Ryosuke.

As it turned out, the older man really did not appreciate his comments about wanting them to behave solely because of the fact that Kakashi Hatake happened to be the sensei for Team Seven and definitely did not appreciate the teasing that despite the fact that he had very clearly been pining for the silver-haired man since their childhood, he had still not managed to win him over.

He guessed that some wounds should be left unopened.

With that theory in mind and the two of them left with painful injuries as the three of them set off to find the missing third member of their team. It was clear to the two boys at this point that Ryosuke was not interested in punishing Yuna as harshly as he had the two of them.

She had done nothing other than making an innocent comment after all.

They managed to find her after the better part of an hour waiting at their original meeting place where she had been left guarding all of their supplies. Yuuki shook his head at the sight before sighing softly as their sensei merely greeted the girl cheerfully as though nothing had happened at all before asking her to heal the boy's wounds in a tone that was almost sickeningly sweet.

'It's become very clear just who sensei's favorite on our team is.' He thought silently to himself before heading over to Yuna himself, allowing the girl to look at and heal his injuries; a sigh leaving him as he felt the familiar warmth of her healing chakra soothing his injuries.

He thanked whatever fates that allowed them to have a medical ninja on their team.

They were very clearly going to need her.

* * *

Yuuki's gaze fell upon the team that the three of them were to be helping out on this mission with a calm smile, eyes dancing beneath long lashes as he observed each feature on every one of his soon to be teammates. A blonde boy who wore an obnoxious orange jumpsuit who had weird whisker-like marks on his cheeks for some reason. A black-haired boy who wore a sour expression on his face that reminded him greatly of his own hard-headed teammate, something that made him inwardly cringe at the thought of having to work with another Akio, though a quick glance to the blue-eyed boy showed that he seemed to avoid looking at Sasuke, something that made a brow rise. He'd have to keep an eye on that. The last member of team seven was a very pretty pink-haired girl who looked at the scowling boy on her team as though her very world revolved around him.

Oh, this was going to be very fun.

"Ah, Kakashi. So you managed to make it to the meeting place before me this time. I'm sorry that we made you wait. My cute little team here thought it would be funny to pull a prank on me and I just couldn't let that go without having a little fun of my own." A feeling of indignation welled up within the genjutsu user's chest and a protest immediately formed upon his tongue, only to be silenced a moment later by the look he was given by his sensei, not wanting to be greeted by Ryosuke's weapons and fire yet again.

His sensei won his silence; for now.

"It's fine. It's not the first time one of us has had to wait for each other and I'm sure it will not be the last." Oh, the amount of self-control it took to keep his snide comments to himself should have been rewarded, and judging by the expressions on the other members of his team's faces, he was not alone in his thoughts. It was apparent by the way his sensei rushed to change the topic a moment later that he didn't trust the three of them to behave themselves for much longer.

Okay, maybe it was him and Akio he didn't trust.

"A-Anyway. Perhaps we should get to introducing our teams to one another since they will be working so closely together on this mission. It seems as though Tazuna-san has not yet arrived at any rate so we do still have some time on our hands." Their sensei turned his gaze to the three of them, gesturing to them with a smile that promised them (well, him and Akio really) a world of pain if they did not behave themselves before finally speaking to them.

"Go ahead and introduce yourselves to them. State your names and your age along with your position on the team. Maybe throw in your likes and dislikes if you feel like it." For a moment all three of them remained silent as they shared a look with each other, determining quietly just who it was that would be the first one to speak before with a small, polite smile their medic chose to step forward.

Sweet, polite little Yuna would be the first sacrifice.

"Hello everyone. My name is Yuna Tsukino. I am fifteen years old and serve as the medical ninja on Team One. I like studying Fūinjutsu and incorporating seals into my battle style to make myself more useful to my team. I also like my teammates and practicing my chakra control whenever I have a chance." She mused with an almost bashful smile as she felt all of their gazes on her before she was told to continue by her sensei, a hand moving to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear before she smiled bashfully at the three strangers as she continued on with her introduction.

"I do not like people who betray their comrades. Nor do I like people who do not take themselves or their roles seriously. I'm also not a fan of people who look down on others or people who think too highly of themselves. I hope that we can all get along!"

"Very well done Yuna! Akio why don't you go next? Yuuki, you'll be last."

Oh, thank god.

With a heavy sigh, the black-haired boy stepped forward as those stern features of his hardened even further as those icy blue eyes narrowed, the boy studying his soon to be teammates closely for a long moment before he finally introduced himself with a sigh and much to Yuuki's delight, Akio once again ignored the black-haired boy who seemed to be studying Akio as if he knew him or at the very least recognized him from somewhere.

Oh, there was definitely a story there.

"My name is Akio Koyabashi. I am the taijutsu and ninjutsu specialist on Team One. In Ryosuke-sensei's absence, I am also my team's leader. I like training and getting stronger. I like this village and times of peace. I dislike perverts who take advantage of defenseless people-"

Yuuki twitched as a pointed glare was tossed so casually in his direction, eyes narrowed and mouth opened, ready to throw a very rude insult in his teammate's direction before the boy managed to cut him off by continuing with his introduction.

Bastard.

"- and traitors to the village. I am fifteen years old as well. Let's finish this mission quickly and painlessly."

Finally, it was Yuuki's turn to shine.

He stepped forward, a pleasant smile crossing those full lips, eyes dancing in mirth as the attention was now focused on him, though he was a little annoyed to see that the three on Kakashi's team had not missed the pointed look in his direction when Akio had all but called him a pervert and looked as though they were the least excited to meet him out of the three.

Asshole

"My name is Yuuki Saito. I am the genjutsu user and the tracker on Team One. As you might have guessed, I am also fifteen years old. I like to practice weaving new genjustu and trying them out to see how they affect people in and out of battle. I like to paint in my free time and I like weapons. You will find that I am not bad at using them either. I dislike people who dare to call me names or people who mock my use of genjutsu just as much as I dislike those who insult or belittle my teammates. Let's try and get along the best that we can."

* * *

In the time that it took for the other three on Kakashi's team to introduce themselves, Yuuki had come to learn quite a bit about the three that they were to work with. Naruto was a sweet and bold young man who easily became his favorite out of the three that they were expected to work with. There was something to be said about his determination to become Hokage simply to be acknowledged by the village that had been so eager to shun him that resonated greatly within his heart.

It was such a familiar feeling that it nearly made him sick.

Sasuke Uchiha was the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre that had happened some years back and while there was some pity to be had, the boy's piss poor attitude was something that rubbed the illusionist the wrong way.

In short, he wanted nothing to do with him.

He understood why Akio seemed to want nothing to do with him either.

As for Sakura Haruno, she was a tragic waste of a kunoichi as far as he was concerned. She was a pretty face and a sharp mind who lacked the discipline needed in order to make proper use of her place on Team Seven.

'It's a pity,' Yuuki noted quietly to himself as he looked over the kunoichi who seemed more focused on Sasuke Uchiha than anything else. 'She might have made a good medical-nin. Or even a good genjutsu user if she got her head out of Sasuke's ass and decided to make herself useful.'

She needed a reason to push herself.

Until that happened, she was as good as useless to them as far as he was concerned. He was shaken from his thoughts a moment later, the bridge builder finally arriving at their meeting spot and as the gates finally opened, each of them fell into their discussed formation. Naruto being the first one out, began to shout excitedly the moment he managed to get a few feet away from the gate.

"Yeah! I'm a traveler now! Dattebayo!"

"What are you getting so excited about Naruto?"

Any amusement that the purple-haired illusionist felt upon seeing the blonde's joy was quickly washed away upon hearing the condescending way she spoke to the boy that was supposed to be her teammate. Judging by the way that Yuna's smile dropped for a moment before becoming forced, Yuuki quickly realized that he was not the only one that felt that way.

Oh, this was going to be good.

"Haruno-san. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have been able to leave the village before. Some people live behind those gates all of their lives. Please do not act so harshly towards Uzumaki-san. His excitement is not unfounded." The gentle scolding seemed to have little effect on the pinkette who simply huffed and averted her gaze away from Yuna, all the while muttering something under her breath.

Time to break the ice before a fight broke out.

"My, My. Come now princess, surely you cannot fault Uzumaki-kun for being excited. Wipe that pout off of that pretty little face of yours and give us a smile, please? I bet you would look absolutely beautiful if you smiled for us." He smiled warmly at the pink-haired girl, smirking inwardly as he caught that familiar coloration beginning to form on the girl's cheeks, suggesting that his pretty words managed to affect her despite the fact that she had initially been very wary of him after Akio's introduction.

It seemed as though even Akio couldn't scare people away from him completely.

"I-I. Thank you. I guess you're right." It didn't go unnoticed that her gaze fell to the broody member of Team Seven once again, seeming to hope that Yuuki's flirting might have gotten a reaction out of Sasuke only for the girl to be completely disappointed when he did not even look in her direction.

If he had been less in tune with hiding his true emotions, he probably would have scoffed in disbelief.

Just what was so good about the Uchiha boy anyway?

* * *

Unfortunately, he received his answer a short while later as the ninjas made their way further away from the hidden leaf village.

A thoughtful smile crossed Yuuki's features, eyes darkening slightly as he managed to sense an unknown chakra signature slightly trailing after their group. It took a moment before his smile fell upon his lips completely as he tilted his head to meet Ryosuke's gaze, allowing his head to fall back casually before making a small, subtle gesture with his hand, letting the older man know that there was someone trailing behind them while the other ninjas were in the middle of listening to a lecture from Kakashi about the hidden villages and the countries that they resided in.

He waited for a moment before closing his eyes, trying to see if there was anything more he could gather from the unknown chakra before scoffing slightly when the chakra seemed to disappear out of nowhere. While they were sloppy enough to get caught by his sensory ability, it seemed as though they were not stupid enough to actually get themselves captured or noticed by any of the other members of their group.

At least, that was what he believed up until he saw the damn puddle.

A puddle in the middle of Fire Country, on a clear day when it had not rained in at least a few weeks. A soft sigh left him as he once again looked at his sensei only to see that Ryosuke was not the only one who had noticed the ridiculous attempt at a disguise. Kakashi simply nodded at him before the ninja that had been stalking their group the entire time finally chose that moment to act.

"First one."

Chains wrapped firmly around Kakashi before the two ninjas ripped him apart and the scream that came from both Naruto, and Sakura were enough to coax the ninjas of Team One into action as they saw the chains wrap around their own sensei who seemed to be strangely calm.

"Remember the mission! Protect Tazuna-san at all costs! Everything is going to be-" Their sensei never had the chance to finish his sentence as he was the next to fall prey to the ninjas' chains, coaxing another scream to leave Naruto, something that served to make him their next target.

"Second one, down. Third one locked on."

Naruto stood frozen in absolute fear as the ninjas moved to catch him in their chain, intending to rip him to pieces the same way they had done to the two adults before Sasuke managed to pin them to a tree with his ninja weapons. As he kicked them in their faces and they managed to break free from the chains, Akio moved quickly, tackling the blonde to the ground to prevent him from being torn apart by one of the brother's claws, eyes narrowing as he watched the second brother rush off towards Tazuna.

"Yuuki, Yuna!" There was not a moment's hesitation as Yuna moved quickly, managing to toss a scroll in Yuuki's direction right before Yuuki used the body flicker technique to warp behind him, unsealing the scroll and tossing two kunai at the mist ninja, eyes dancing with mirth as they embedded themselves into the enemy ninja's back, causing him to stumble a few steps before he continued charging, Sakura throwing herself in front of the bridge builder while Sasuke moved to protect her.

"Yuna, go!" He watched as his female teammate gathered up her chakra until it became visible, running quickly towards the ninja who was hellbent on attacking her comrades, ready to send him flying only to stumble as their senseis chose that moment to reveal themselves, Yuna managing to stop herself just in time before she managed to hit Kakashi with one of her Chakra Scalpels.

That would have been very bad.

Yuuki's gaze immediately shot to where Naruto and Akio were, only to sigh in relief as he saw his sensei holding the second brother by the back of his cloak, a scarily cheerful smile covering his features.

"My, My. Look what the cat dragged in. A wet, scared little mouse. All the better for us to play with, right Kakashi?"

God, their sensei was scary.

Ryosuke's golden eyes shone brightly down at Akio for a moment, beaming with pride at his genin before he turned to Naruto with the same warm look, though those golden eyes held the slightest bit of remorse within their depths. "I am sorry that we didn't act right away Naruto. I did not mean for you to get hurt. You as well Akio, though you did a great job trying to keep Naruto safe."

"We did not think that Naruto would freeze up like that. Part of the reason that we stayed hidden was we wanted to see if the six of you are capable of working together and how you all reacted to the threat. For the most part, I can say that we were very impressed with how things were handled." Kakashi's relaxed voice filled in the blanks before he turned to his own ninja as he made his way over to them.

"Good job Sasuke, very smooth. You too Sakura, well done."

"You as well Yuuki, Yuna. Excellent use of the body flicker on your part Yuuki. Yuna, good thinking, sealing weapons within those scrolls." Yuuki simply smirked in quiet satisfaction before his gaze moved towards Naruto and Akio who both happened to look less than pleased with themselves and as Sasuke teased Naruto, the blonde immediately reacted aggressively, before the next words that left Kakashi's mouth immediately caused all of the ninjas present to freeze up as Naruto fell silent in shock.

Apparently, the Ninjas' claws contained poison in them.

As Naruto was told to stay still and not to move because of the fact that the poison was already in his blood, Ryosuke quickly gestured to the blue-haired kunoichi on his team.

"Yuna. Your time to shine." The kunoichi moved quickly to Naruto's side, hands moving to gently grasp onto Naruto's, steadying it as she allowed one hand to hover over the wound. Her hand immediately began to glow with her chakra as it flowed into the wound before creating a vacuum-like suction, drawing out the poison from his blood while sealing the wound closed all at the same time.

It seemed as though she had done this before, a fact that did not go unnoticed.

"Ryosuke, how is it that she is already experienced with how to deal with poison despite the fact that she is only a genin? She should have absolutely no idea about how to deal with any of this yet, even if she is focused on becoming a medic. Oh, and Tazuna I will need to speak with you as well as soon as possible. We all do." Yuuki watched as his sensei hesitated for a moment as he looked at Yuna before sighing as he turned to Kakashi a moment later.

"The thing that is so unique about my team is the fact that two of them were not born in the Hidden Leaf. Yuna is one of them, which you should have at least guessed by now. The Tsukino is not a clan that originates from the Hidden Leaf. They are a clan of bloodthirsty medics from the Hidden Mist Village. Yuna's parents defected from the Kirigakure and came to Konoha back when she was about four, maybe five. They trained her to be a medical ninja on their own, using the Mist's techniques while also incorporating them with Leaf's. She is good with poisons because the Hidden Mist relies heavily on poisons and it was useful to teach her about them while she was young, just in case the Hidden Mist or the Tsukino clan ever decided to come for her."

Though they would have to kill all of the members of Team One before any of them allowed anyone from the Mist to hurt Yuna.

Kakashi allowed that information to sink in for the longest of moments, his black eye never once leaving the golden eyes of Team One's sensei before sighing and turning his gaze to Tazuna, satisfied with the information about the medic but yearning to satisfy the rest of his curiosity.

"Going back to what I said earlier, it is true that we stayed hidden partly because we wanted to see how our teams worked together when faced with a threat." Kakashi paused for a moment before his gaze narrowed.

"The other reason was simply that we wanted to see just who it was these ninjas are after. Were they going to attack us and make it a ninja on ninja attack? Or were they after you; the master bridge builder?"

"When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from highwaymen and robbers. You did not say that ninja were also looking for you-" Ryosuke interjected calmly, though his golden eyes narrowed at the bridge builder who seemed to be getting nervous at the implications before Kakashi spoke again as the two Jōnin interrogated the man together.

"-hunting you down. If we knew this, this easily would have become a B ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we'd be expecting attacks from enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B mission." The bridge builder at least had the decency to look ashamed with himself as Kakashi continued to scold him, going as far as to say that this mission was beyond their level.

Sakura was fast to agree, even going as far as to say that this mission was too advanced for their level of training and that Naruto should get properly treated by a doctor, something that was promptly ignored by all of them as Yuna scoffed silently, mumbling something under her breath as she turned her attention to Akio to focus healing his injuries.

The group of ninjas seemed to be at a stalemate for the longest of moments before Yuuki sighed once again, deciding to finally speak up only to be shut up by Naruto, announcing that he felt fine and that he wanted more than anything to continue on with the mission, something that made Yuuki chuckle softly before speaking.

"I agree. We may be genin but I think there's more than enough of us to handle this mission. It was easy enough to sense these jokers and we do have a medical ninja on our team even if she is just a genin. These ninjas are mist ninja and there's a chance more Kirigakure ninja will come after us. It seems as though they're unfamiliar with the terrain just like we are and Yuna does know some Kiri and Konoha medical ninjutsu. I think we'll be fine."

Ryosuke hesitated for the longest of moments as he looked at his genin before sighing softly as an amused smile crossed his lips before his gaze turned to his longtime friend.

"I do believe that they have us beat, Kakashi. If the worst possible outcome does happen, then at least it is the two of us. We've known each other long enough and have worked with each other enough to be able to fight well together. We also have my Kekkei Genkai, so I do think we are more than capable of completing this mission. Even if it did come to us rather unexpectedly and not in the most ideal of conditions."

Kakashi listened to Ryosuke's words before shaking his head and chuckling softly, something that caused Ryosuke's cheeks to darken as he averted his gaze, nearly pouting as he opened his mouth to scold Kakashi for laughing at him only to fall silent as Kakashi spoke.

"You are right as usual, my friend. If Yuna is a capable enough healer to remove poison and heal injuries, I suppose as long as we ensure she stays safe along with Tazuna, we should be fine. Very well, you guys win."

Hopefully, things from this point on would run smoothly.

One could hope at any rate.


	3. Demon of the Mist: Enter Zabuza Momochi

'The mist is so thick that we could cut through it if we wanted to.'

That was the first thought that crossed Yuuki's mind as the boat gently traveled along the murky water, midnight-blue eyes squinting to see if he could see anything past the mist only for him to give up with a sigh a moment later, lips forming into a small pout. He had wanted to see the scenery from the water and had been hoping that he would be able to make a painting out of it later on in the night when he managed to get some time alone.

It seemed as though he would simply have to wait until next time.

His attention was stolen from his thoughts as Kakashi spoke to the bridge builder, asking about the people who happened to be after him before also asking him why he had lied to them in the first place, warning him that if he refused to disclose the information to all of them, that their mission would end as soon as they reached land.

Eyes all fell upon the old man as he spoke about the man who wanted him dead, a rich executive of a shipping company named Gato. Apparently, the man was into all sorts of dark and disgusting acts and used his wealth to control everything in the Land of Waves, from the lives of the everyday people to the government in the country itself.

It was sickening what money could get a person.

Tazuna went on to say that the thing the man feared more than anything else was the completion of the bridge that he was building for the country.

"So you have become a problem since you're the one constructing the bridge." Sakura mused silently before Sasuke came to the realization that the ninja before had been Gato's men.

"You would think that such a rich man would be able to afford better ninja. It was laughable just how unskilled those first two were." Yuuki mused with a small smirk before he listened as Tazuna spoke again, saying that the Land of Waves was a very poor country and that they could not afford the costs of a B-ranked mission. He then went on to say that if they left, that Gato would have him killed almost immediately.

If that was not enough, he also mentioned his grandson and the fact that his daughter would blame leaf shinobi for his death before grieving in solitude for the rest of her life, something the made all of his teammates immediately freeze up in guilt, though Yuuki's gaze remained unchanging, that cat-like smile remaining on his features before widening as those eyes narrowed the slightest bit as he saw through the act that the man put on in order to fool the rest of the group.

The man was a good actor, he could at least give him that.

Once they reached the shore and climbed off of the boat, Tazuna went as far as to demand the party of ninja to get him home safely, something that made the Genjutsu user twitch slightly in annoyance before that smile smoothly formed over his features again, wondering just how much trouble he might be in if he trapped the old man in a genjutsu long enough to teach him some respect.

Or at least some basic gratitude.

As they continued on with their journey, Yuuki allowed his chakra to go into sensory mode as he lingered in the middle of the group. He watched with great amusement as Naruto seemed determined to make up for having frozen up in the previous battle, claiming that he sensed a presence before throwing his kunai knife into the bushes, an act that made the others tense up as Yuuki's eyes immediately closed, trying to see if Naruto was right.

It was silent for a moment before Naruto claimed that he sensed someone in the opposite direction, throwing a knife into the other bush. It was enough to upset Sakura who immediately punched Naruto before scolding him for acting recklessly while Naruto claimed that there really was someone following them and as they sifted through the bushes, they would find a poor little rabbit who looked as though it was close to having a heart attack.

The poor thing.

The noise coming from Naruto as he apologized to the rabbit was enough to distract the purple-haired boy as he watched him cuddle the rabbit with a soft chuckle.

"Consider yourself lucky that he doesn't bite you. If I were that poor thing I'd have tried to take a finger from you by now." He mused, before laughing once again as he saw the expression on Naruto's face at his words.

Oh, he was too cute.

He missed as Ryosuke, and Kakashi immediately began to scout the area after seeing the coloration of the rabbit's coat. He chose instead to enjoy the show that Naruto put on, at least until he heard the cry from Kakashi, warning everyone to get down. It was not even seconds later that he felt the air rush above where he had just been standing, eyes narrowing as he looked up in time to see a sword embed itself into a tree a few feet away from all of them, a tanned ninja standing on top of the blade as he looked coldly down at them.

How the hell had he missed him?

"Well, Well. If it isn't the rogue ninja of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi." He heard Kakashi's words as he approached the man, body tensing as he heard that he hailed from the mist village, frowning lightly as his gaze calmly flickered over to Yuna, relaxing as he found her a safe distance away, Akio having placed himself in between her and the man.

If Akio was with her then they'd be fine.

A sudden movement from the corner of his eye managed to catch his attention, heart nearly stopping within his chest as he saw Naruto move to charge at the man, hand moving quickly to yank him back by the back of his jumpsuit, smile for once not on his face.

"Naruto. It's best not to go rushing into battle with this guy. I don't think he's stupid like the others." That blue gaze narrowed slightly as Kakashi confirmed his theory, saying that this man was on a whole different level. Ryosuke moved to stand by the white-haired man's side as he gently coaxed his student back along with Naruto.

"Get back and protect Tazuna-san. Both of you. Kakashi and I will handle this ourselves. Manji formation if you please."

"I assume the one with the white hair, is Kakashi the Sharingan user. You with the black hair...those gold eyes. You must be the Demon from the Leaf. Sorry...but I'll have to have the both of you hand over the old man."

* * *

The tension was heavy in the air as Kakashi's hand moved to his headband while Ryosuke stood in position, golden eyes narrowing as he watched the rogue nin and as Kakashi revealed the Sharingan eye and as Naruto questioned just what the Sharingan was, Sasuke would explain it in great detail, Yuuki's eyes widening slightly once he heard just what Kakashi's eye was capable of doing.

The thought that his genjutsu was capable of being rendered absolutely useless bothered him more than anything else.

The area around them suddenly became surrounded with a dense mist and he felt his heart stop within his veins, eyes narrowing as Zabuza's voice penetrated through the mist.

"When I was in the Anbu Black Ops of the Hidden Mist, information about both of you was in the Bingo Book I carried with me. There was also something else in the book. The man who has copied over one thousand skills, Kakashi the copycat Ninja." The voice would trail off for a moment before speaking again.

"There was also information about the man whose Kekkei Genkai allowed him to manipulate lava with such ease that they swore he was a demon straight from the depths of hell. Demon of the Leaf, I wonder if I'll get the chance to see your lava release before I paint the ground red with your blood."

Man, this guy was sadistic.

"Let's end the talking here. I must kill the old man immediately." Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he leered at the bridge builder, immediately spurring the genin to get into position, all sides of the bridge builder being guarded by one member each of the teams, leaving no angle unguarded.

"Kakashi. Ryosuke. It seems as though I will have to defeat you both first." With those words said he grabbed his sword from the tree, removing it before using the body flicker to transport himself over to the water where he seemed to be gathering up a large amount of chakra, Yuuki left swallowing roughly as he realized just how powerful the man they were going to fight truly was.

He could not help but worry about the two jonin who were going to fight him face to face and while he knew they had the advantage in numbers, something about this man truly made him uneasy.

"Ninja Art, Hidden Mist Jutsu." With those words uttered, Zabuza immediately vanished into the air, and immediately Kakashi and Ryosuke both came forward, stepping in front of the genin.

"He'll probably come to erase me first. Ryosuke will probably be next as we're currently the biggest threats to his mission at the moment." Kakashi spoke quietly, falling silent as Sakura asked just what he was, prompting an explanation about the man who was known as the expert on silent killing and as Kakashi warned that he had not mastered his eye completely, warning them all to not lower their guard, he noticed that Ryosuke was scarily silent for once.

That was not a good sign.

The mist grew thicker and thicker until both of the Jonin vanished completely from their field of vision, that sinister voice piercing through the mist once again as he listed the major vital points on the human body before asking which would be the best one for him to attack. As soon as the voice trailed off, the mist was chased off by Kakashi's chakra and all of the ninjas were faced with a powerful spike of killing intent.

It was enough to make Yuuki's blood run completely cold.

Wide blue eyes darted around as he tried to locate the man, hands trembling as he did his best to calm himself, a soft gasp leaving him as he felt a strong, warm hand move to grab onto his own, Yuuki's eyes flickering to the side to meet the icy blue gaze of Akio as he squeezed his hand gently.

Immediately, he felt his anxiety start to fade away.

They would be fine.

No matter what happened in the end, at least they were together.

It seemed as though he was not the only one affected by the killing intent for it was only a moment later that Kakashi spoke, telling Sasuke that he did not need to worry because he would protect them with his life. He swore that he would not allow his comrades to get killed before smiling at the genin.

"I wonder about that."

That voice immediately disrupted the moment before Zabuza appeared in the very middle of the genin's formation, sword drawn and ready to kill.

"It's over."

* * *

Before the man could even move, Ryosuke was behind him, powerful arms locking behind Zabuza, holding him in place as Kakashi body flickered over, stabbing him in the stomach with his kunai only to find water dripping out of his wound before Zabuza's form disappeared in a burst of water.

A water clone.

Zabuza immediately appeared behind Kakashi, telling him to die and slicing through both him and Ryosuke with his sword only for the black-haired ninja to disappear in a cloud of smoke and Kakashi to vanish with the same burst of water.

Clones as well and Kakashi had even managed to copy the water clone jutsu from him.

It would be in the next second that Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza with a kunai pressed against his neck, warning him not to move before stating that it was over, Ryosuke body flickering to stand in front of Zabuza, hands formed in the sign needed to activate his Lava Release if need be, golden eyes never leaving the rogue ninja's form.

Maybe Ryosuke-sensei wasn't a complete goof after all.

The genin sat on the ground completely stunned before Naruto's voice broke through the silence, praising Kakashi's skills as he told Zabuza that this was the end for him, something that caused the man to laugh darkly before he told Kakashi that he would not be able to beat him with his imitations. It was then that the man would disappear into a splash of water yet again, revealing that he was another clone before the real Zabuza appeared behind him, swinging his sword just in time for Kakashi to duck as Ryosuke lunged forward, aiming a swift kick to Zabuza's torso only to hiss as he was caught.

"Pathetic. Is this all that the Demon of the Leaf is capable of? Subpar weaponry and taijutsu? Where is the ninja that made my fellow ninja so scared? Surely he has more up his sleeve than just these cheap tricks!" Ryosuke disappeared in a cloud of smoke, only to reappear behind Zabuza but this time the enemy ninja was expecting him, dodging his attack and sending a swift kick to his back, sending him flying into Kakashi and knocking them both into the water before disappearing.

As the two leaf ninja surfaced from the depths of the water, Kakashi commented on how heavy the water was, causing Yuuki's eyes to narrow slightly before allowing his chakra to switch to his sensory mode, eyes widening as he saw that the water was dripping with Zabuza's chakra.

"Ryosuke-Sensei, Hatake-sensei! Get out of there quick the water is-" His warning came too late as Zabuza appeared behind the two men, weaving signs and trapping them in a sort of water prison that he swore they would be unable to escape from. He mentioned that they both gave him a hard time when they were moving freely before promising that he would kill them as soon as he killed their genin, using his free hand to use the sign to make another water clone.

One that they would have to face on their own.

* * *

"The six of you have forehead protectors on as if you think that you are real ninja, but real ninja have gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourselves ninjas when you appear in my bingo book."

He made a gesture with his hands and the mist thickened once again.

"You six are not ninja." He appeared in front of Naruto, kicking him back and sending the boy flying back, Yuna and Akio moving quickly to catch him, steadying the boy before he could hit the ground, multiple sets of blue eyes glaring at the adult as he stepped on Naruto's forehead protector.

"You're all just kids."

That statement was enough to shake something in their senseis as Kakashi would shout out, calling for them to take Tazuna and run away from the battle. Zabuza could not move as long as he kept both of the men imprisoned in the water sphere and could not use the water clone once they got away from him.

The genin remained silent for a moment, sharing a gaze with one another before coming to the same realization.

They could not run away because Zabuza would only hunt them down.

The only chance that they had at survival was to save their senseis.

Sasuke was the first to move into action, running at Zabuza while throwing numerous shuriken at him which were deflected by his sword before leaping at him with his kunai poised to strike, only to be caught by his throat. Zabuza choked him for a bit before sending him flying on the ground, something that prompted Team One to react as they saw him standing in front of Naruto.

Akio was the next to charge at Zabuza, icy eyes narrowed into a dark glare as his hands would form rapid signs before he would slam them down onto the ground, causing the ground to ripple with the movements in an attempt to catch the clone off-balance, succeeding in making him stumble as Yuuki body flickered behind him hands forming rapid signs before he would speak softly, activating the genjutsu on the clone as he turned to face him.

"Heavenly Illusion: Sweet Serendipity." While the illusion was not capable of holding the clone for long, it was long enough for him to start weaving another one, weaving layer after layer into the illusion in an attempt to buy his teammates some time as the clone was trapped in a world that surrounded him with sweet pleasant scents along with vibrant colors.

It was an illusion made to force the victim to relax, draining at their willpower until they no longer wished to fight and gave in to the illusion. He wasn't sure how long it would last on a bloodthirsty savage like Zabuza, much less how long it would last on a clone.

He hoped they came up with something fast.

Those hopes were immediately dashed when Naruto went running towards the clone, screaming and managing to disrupt the illusion he had managed to trap him in, Yuuki immediately body flickering away to avoid the clone's attack before wincing as Naruto was sent flying back to the group, eyes narrowing in irritation and mouth opening to scold the ninja only to have Sakura beat him to the punch.

"What were you thinking?! I can't believe you ran in there like that by yourself? Yuuki had him trapped! You should have left it alone until we figured something out! Genin like ourselves don't stand a chance otherwise!" They watched as Naruto picked himself up, revealing that he had run in to get his forehead protector, something that made the purple-haired boy sigh softly before those eyes narrowed at the clone as he heard that Naruto had a plan.

This had better work.

* * *

The fact that the genin had not run away yet was something that seemed to cause a lot of panic within their senseis.

"What are you guys doing? You need to run! The outcome of this battle was decided when both Kakashi and I got caught!" Ryosuke called out, golden eyes frantic as he watched the children attempt to free them only to get caught and hurt by the clone and it seemed as though Kakashi shared his feelings.

"Our mission is to protect Tazuna-San at all costs! Have you forgotten that?!" That was enough to get a reaction out of all of the youth, those gazes snapping to Tazuna as Naruto spoke softly in question.

"Old man?" Tazuna's head lowered at the question, hat falling over his eyes as he assured the genin that saving their senseis was fine and that he would not complain about any decision they made since he was the one to cause all of this to begin with. It was enough to cause Yuuki's previous distaste of the man to fade away as a smirk crossed his features.

Maybe the man wasn't so bad after all.

Their newly found confidence was enough to only make Zabuza laugh as he said that they did not learn before stating that by the time that he was their age that his hands had already been stained in blood, something that caused Team One to tense up with Yuna becoming more and more distressed as he spoke about just what it took to graduate from the academy in the Hidden Mist village.

Students killing each other in order to graduate.

"Of course. Some of you already know that. That blue-haired girl of yours...was it...Yuna? You know all too well what I am talking about because your parents ran away from Kirigakure just as you were at the right age to start attending the academy. The Tsukino were really upset to have their heir stolen away at such a prime time in her life. You're worth quite a bit of money, If I weren't on such bad terms with the mist I'd be tempted to take them up on that offer and bring you to them."

Yuuki tensed up at the man's words, blue eyes narrowing as he saw the way the man looked at her. It was as though she was worth nothing more than money to him and he felt his stomach immediately churn with disgust. It was then that he chuckled and began talking about there being a reformation of that practice ten years ago because a boy had gone in and killed every single one of the academy students without hesitation and at that moment, as that monster was revealed to be Zabuza, he watched in disgust as he simply stated about how much fun that was before attacking Sasuke.

Naruto took that moment to attack him and as he was sent flying back he tossed a giant shuriken towards Sasuke who would manage to capture it and set it up before he sent it flying. It would sail past the clone and towards the real Zabuza only for the man to catch it and the minute he caught it a second shuriken would appear in his blind spot, Zabuza jumping up to avoid it only for the shuriken to become Naruto.

They had managed to trick him.

Naruto threw a kunai at Zabuza, forcing the man to release the prison that held their senseis hostage and Yuna used that moment to attack the water clone with her chakra scalpels while his back was turned, forcing the clone to disappear in a burst of water. Zabuza in his rage moved to throw the shuriken at Naruto only to be stopped by a furious Kakashi who glared at Zabuza while Ryosuke rose from the water as well, golden eyes blazing in anger as he began forming signs, determined to teach Zabuza a lesson.

He wasn't getting out of here alive.

Kakashi complemented their plan before Naruto went into depths explaining everything, even throwing a smile towards Yuna when he mentioned that they had managed to get rid of the clone, the blue-haired girl smiling back in response before Yuuki spoke.

"Ryosuke-Sensei, Hatake-Sensei. Kick his ass for me. Let's not forget that he said he'd sell Yuna back to Kirigakure if he could!" That was enough to make the mood shift as Ryosuke's golden gaze darkened even further at the reminder, something that made Zabuza chuckle softly.

"I lost myself for a moment and canceled the technique-"

"No, you didn't cancel it-" Kakashi began before Ryosuke cut in.

"-You were forced to let it go-"

"-Let me just tell you that the same technique will not work against me twice-"

"-And now that we have seen what you're capable of, you will not be getting away-"

"-What are you going to do now?"

Zabuza moved to attack Kakashi with the Shuriken only for the later to knock it out of his hands and with that threat gone, all three of the ninjas were off in a flash, Ryosuke gently grabbing Naruto and moving him to safety before he moved to stand in front of the genin, hands forming seals quickly as a large wave of water came crashing down towards them.

"Lava Release: Magma armor!" His Kekkei Genkai flared to life, the molten hot lava forming and covering Ryosuke's body like a protective armor as the water came crashing down on him, quickly evaporating due to the heat of his chakra and preventing it from crashing down on the genin, soft wisps of steam flowing from his body before he moved to return to Kakashi's side.

The fight wasn't over yet.

The genin watched in awe as the three ninjas moved, Ryosuke trailing behind Kakashi as he helped the man as often as he could, smirking as he saw that Zabuza was getting paranoid due to Kakashi's tactics before he quickly formed his own hand signs, casting a minor genjutsu on Zabuza that caused him to see himself standing at Kakashi's side, something that clearly freaked the man out even more before Kakashi took the opening he created, sending out one final attack.

It was done.

As Zabuza sat pinned against a tree by the kunai that Ryosuke threw, Zabuza asked Kakashi if he could see the future, Kakashi told him that yes, he could, before stating that Zabuza was to die as he caught a kunai that Ryosuke threw to him only for the two jonin to watch in shock as two senbon were thrown, embedding themselves into Zabuza's neck.

Dear God, he was right.

* * *

"It was true, he really did die." A soft, silky voice filled the air as a masked ninja appeared before them and the moment that they saw the symbols on the mask, Ryosuke immediately tensed up, eyes narrowing as he braced himself for another potential fight.

There was no way he was going to allow a Kirigakure Nin to touch his student.

Yuuki immediately moved to shield Yuna from the ninja's view, quickly being joined by Akio as Yuna's hand moved to her own kunai pouch. The three members of Team One were surprised when the ninja from Team Seven also moved to get into a defensive position around her, seemingly ready to fight alongside them to keep her safe if they needed to.

Kakashi moved to Zabuza's body while Ryosuke moved to stand in front of the genin, golden eyes watching every single move the masked ninja made while Kakashi checked the man's pulse, only to confirm that he was truly dead.

The masked ninja bowed their head in gratitude.

"Thank you very much. I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza." Kakashi's eyes narrowed before he spoke, clarifying that ninja was, in fact, a hunter ninja from the Hidden Mist.

"You are very well informed." The masked ninja spoke smoothly before Naruto cut in aggressively, only to be scolded by Sakura once again as she explained what a hunter ninja was, the air becoming tense as it became clear to everyone that there was a good chance that the hunter ninja would want Yuna as well.

"Yes, I am a member of the pursuing ninja that hunt exiled ninja." With that said Naruto ran forward, charging at the masked ninja before stopping a few feet away as he looked at Zabuza's body before glaring at the masked ninja.

"Who the hell are you?!" Kakashi moved to calm Naruto down, pulling him back while muttering that he was not currently an enemy and that he needed to calm down. Naruto explained how he could not accept how a kid who was not that much different from him was capable of killing Zabuza so easily, making them look like idiots in the process, only to be silenced by Kakashi's explanation.

In this world, there were kids who were younger than they were, but were stronger than Kakashi.

The masked ninja moved to Zabuza's body, lifting it as they moved to look at the two teams.

"Your battle ends here for now. I must go and dispose of the body." The ninja made to turn as if they were leaving before pausing, turning their head in the direction of where Yuna stood, making it clear that they were studying her through their mask and for a moment, Yuuki's blood ran cold as he prepared himself for another battle.

Then the masked ninja spoke again.

"Tsukino-sama. "

At that moment, his heart stopped.

Yuuki's eyes narrowed as he eyed the hunter with a darkening smile, daring him to try anything before Yuna moved into his sight, features calm despite the potential threat to her very life.

"Yes?"

"You've grown well. I'm so happy to see that you're doing well despite everything. I will see you again soon. Very soon."

With that, he was gone and all was silent for a moment before a soft chuckle left Yuuki's lips, a dark smile crossing his features as he stared at the place where the hunter ninja had been only moments before.

"I'm calling it, he's going to end up being an enemy and we're going to have to fight him sometime in the very near future."

"Yuuki, you shouldn-"

"I will give you all of the money from my last ten missions if I'm wrong, Akio. If I'm right, you have to paint a flattering portrait of me and you can only say nice things about me for a week."

"You're on."

They turned their attention away from each other when they heard something hit the ground and immediately their eyes would widen as Ryosuke moved quickly to Kakashi's side, gently lifting the man as the genin on Team Seven were left worrying about their sensei.

"There's no need to worry, I promise you. He just hasn't used the Sharingan this much in a very long time and I believe it put a strain on his body and exhausted his chakra. With some rest, he should be fine. Tazuna-san..please lead the way to your home. We should be safe for now."

The rest of the journey was made relatively quickly, though Ryosuke couldn't help but notice just how silent Yuna was throughout the remainder of the trip, concern growing and the very moment they reached the house and Kakashi got looked over and everyone's wounds were treated, he pulled the young medic to the side to interrogate her.

"Yuna, what's wrong? You've been awfully quiet since that encounter with the hunter ninja. Is something bothering you?" She looked more worried than anything else, hands fiddling with her sleeves before sighing as those blue eyes moved to meet her sensei's.

"I..um. Sensei...that hunter Ninja."

"He seemed to know you, is that what has you worried?"

"No. Sensei...It's just that..."

"Yuna, now you are scaring me. What is wrong?"

"That boy. Whatever he was, he was not a hunter ninja. My father was a medic for a Hunter-Nin squad back before we left Kirigakure. Hunter Ninjas don't take the body with them to dispose of them. They get rid of the body there on sight and take back something to prove that they killed the target. I've never heard of them doing what that boy did."

There was a long moment of silence before that feeling of dread subsided long enough for him to speak. "So you're saying-"

"Whatever that boy was, I can assure you that he is not a hunter ninja from the Hidden Mist. There's a good chance he's working with Zabuza which means that there is a very good chance that Zabuza is still alive."

Oh...Kakashi was not going to like this.

He was not going to like this one bit.


	4. Chapter Four: Change of Heart

It was a few days later that Kakashi finally woke up from his deep sleep, only to get scolded into not moving by Tazuna's daughter, the scolding enough to attract the attention of his fellow ninja as they all piled in. Ryosuke chose to lean back against the wall as Yuna moved to look over his injuries, frowning slightly as she noticed that he was suffering from Chakra exhaustion.

"Hatake-Sensei. You really should take it easy and rest for the next few days at least. That battle with Zabuza really did a number on your body. As did the use of the Sharingan, I did the best that I could with my experience, but it may not have done much to help."

Sakura moved to sit next to the two of them, that mint gaze looking down at her sensei with a look of concern.

"Your Sharingan's amazing but if it puts that much of a strain on your body, it may not be worth it." She scolded lightly as a sheepish looking Kakashi apologized before the topic shifted to the boy with the mask, something that made the Tsukino girl tense up and as a frown marred her pretty features, Ryosuke sighed softly, waiting for Kakashi to finish explaining about the Hidden Mist's hunters before he finally interjected himself into the conversation.

"About that, Kakashi, we may have a problem brewing on our hands." That was enough to shift the attention onto the black-haired Jonin as he gestured towards Yuna.

"As I said before, Yuna here was born in the Hidden Mist village to two medical ninjas. What you did not know is that Yuna's father was a medic for a team of hunter Ninja. What that boy did, Yuna told me, is completely unheard of." Attention shifted to the blue-haired girl as she fiddled with the ends of her shirt sleeves before finally speaking.

"They are supposed to get rid of the body on sight, then and there when they have made a kill. A simple token to prove Zabuza's death was all that he should have needed. He did not need to take the body. That and the fact that the boy used senbon, which is not a weapon that is normally used by medics due to the fact that you have to be deadly accurate with them in order to kill makes me believe that we were deceived. If I had to make an educated guess, I believe that whoever that ninja was, simply put him into a death-like state so he could escape with Zabuza which means there is a very good chance that he is still very much alive."

All would fall silent for a moment before Akio sighed softly, drawing attention to him as Yuuki smirked darkly in delight.

"I was right, I knew it! You'd better hold up your end of the bargain or I'll lock you in a genjutsu and throw you into the women's side in the Hot Springs when we get home!"

Shock and disbelief permeated the air for a moment before all hell finally broke loose as Yuna stood swiftly, eyes narrowing into an unamused glare directed towards her two teammates who immediately fell silent as they were faced with the normally gentle kunoichi's anger.

"You mean to tell me that I've been worried about this for the last few days only to find out that you both were making bets about whether or not he was alive all along?!"

The boys remained silent, looking to their sensei for help only to find that the man was pointedly ignoring their gaze as he focused his attention on the window, humming a quiet little tune to himself as he was unable to hide his amusement, watching his boys all but fall over themselves to try and quell the girl's anger. Even Yuuki dropped that mask of his long enough to show what he was really feeling for once, so he supposed he could ignore this little outburst from Yuna just this once.

She was his good child after all.

The argument between the three teammates was interrupted a moment later as Kakashi cleared his throat before mentioning a need for training and as Sakura protested, Kakashi reminded her that they had been the ones to save him and Ryosuke in the middle of the battle, before stating that all of them had grown, with Naruto having grown the most, something that made the energetic blonde beam with pride and made the purple-haired illusionist smile softly as he watched the blonde as he all but glowed from that compliment.

Naruto was going to accomplish great things one day, he knew it.

The moment was interrupted by a young boy named Inari as he told them plain and clear that they were all going to die and that no one could stand up to Gato, something that made Yuuki twitch as that smile on his face slowly became strained. "My, My. Aren't you just absolutely-"

Bratty.

Rude.

Obnoxious.

Irritating.

"-Charming." He finished before snickering softly as Naruto jumped up and called the child a brat, making a mental note to praise the blonde when the two of them were alone and he wouldn't be scolded for doing so. He listened as Naruto told the boy that he was going to be the Hokage one day before saying that he was not worried about Gato or his men.

The boy was not impressed.

He simply scoffed and turned away, telling them that heroes did not exist and that if they did not want to die they should hurry up and return home before leaving, Sakura being forced to restrain the enraged blonde until he was completely safe from Naruto's wrath.

Pity, he would have liked to see Naruto shake some sense into that brat.

* * *

It was a few days later that Kakashi was able to move enough to walk around and the two teams found themselves gathered in the forest. Kakashi spoke about Chakra only to be interrupted by Naruto as he said that they already knew everything about this thing, something that originally had all of the Team One ninja impressed.

Then he called it Chatora.

Oh, Naruto.

Sakura began to explain what Chakra was to Naruto along with how it worked while Yuuki turned his gaze to Ryosuke.

"Sensei, no offense, but do we really need to sit here through this lesson when we already know how to do this?"

"It never hurts to get a refresher."

"Sensei, we've been a team for two years at this point. I will admit that they did surprise us a lot during the fight with Zabuza but even Akio has mastered the basics of Chakra control and out of the three of us, he was the one who had the most trouble with it. This seems redundant at best and pointless at worst." Yuuki mused before those blues widened as Ryosuke's gaze finally moved to meet his own.

He looked so...tired.

"Yuuki-kun. Yuna-chan. Akio-kun, did it ever occur to you why I might have accepted this mission to begin with? I know the three of you like to tease me about my so-called "situation" with Kakashi, but when I told you three that I had a reason, I meant it. The reason is that you three are easily the most talented team I have ever had the pleasure to work with but there is one thing that is holding you back. You three need to expand your worlds beyond each other. While teamwork is important, it's useless if you are only capable of working with each other because there may come a time where we will not be together as a team and you will be forced to work with others as such, you three need to learn to get over your distrust of the Hidden Leaf and learn to work with them as you would with each other."

He paused in his speaking for a moment, allowing that information to sink in before speaking once again.

"Yuuki, you were thrown aside and forgotten by the village as soon as your parents were killed in that mission simply because you were not born in Konoha. Because of that, you turned to illusions and put on a mask to keep everyone out."

That golden gaze turned to Yuna next.

"My dear Yuna, you, and your parents were treated with suspicion and scorn everywhere you went because of the fact that you three were from the Bloody Mist. Your parents went mad because of the isolation and are going to spend the rest of their lives in the mental ward of Konoha's hospital."

Then there was Akio.

"Akio, you are branded as a traitor because of the fact that your uncle ran off with Orochimaru. What I am trying to say is that all three of you have valid reasons to hate the village. You all have issues with trusting others outside of your own little bubble. Outside of those penpals that Yuuki has from Sunagakure, you three have no connections with anyone aside from each other. I took this mission to show you that not everyone from the village is the same."

He gestured to the four of Team Seven who had since finished their talk and were watching the four of them, waiting patiently for them to finish.

"Have any of these children treated you the way that you expected to be treated?"

The silence was enough of an answer for him.

"You three need to learn how to work with people. You need to learn how to trust others. You need to learn how to open up and helping these three master chakra control is just a start. Please...trust me. I promise you won't regret it." Three pairs of blue eyes met their sensei before sharing a look with one another, all three coming to the same hesitant decision.

It was worth a shot.

The four members of Team One returned to Team Seven's side, curious to learn about what the exercise was only to find out that it would be tree climbing and as the genin complained, Kakashi simply chuckled before he looked at Ryosuke as he gestured towards the tree.

"Do you mind?"

"You tell me to jump and I ask how high, isn't that the way this strange relationship of ours works, Kakashi?" Ryosuke mused softly before he gathered his chakra, forcing it down to the bottom of his feet before he started to walk up the trunk of the tree effortlessly, moving to hang upside down from a branch as he peered down at the six genin, pouting as gravity forced his hair to fall down into his field of vision.

"Oh..now my hair is going to be all weird. The things I do to make you happy. I really do hope that you appreciate my sacrifices, Kakashi."

"I'm sure you'll live. Besides, it doesn't matter what your hair looks like, you're more than attractive enough to manage to make anything look good on you. That's always been the case." Kakashi mused, his words causing all of the genin to gape at him while Ryosuke turned a bright red, something that only made the silver-haired ninja chuckle, especially as he saw the delighted expression on Yuna's face.

Perhaps there was some truth to the rumors about Ryosuke having feelings for him after all.

* * *

"U-Um... I-Um. It's your turn to try the exercise now!" The flustered jonin threw three kunai down towards the new genin and when the three asked why Yuna, Yuuki, and Akio were not going to be doing the practice as well, he simply gifted them a small smile, seemingly managing to pull himself together once the topic was changed.

"They have already mastered this exercise along with the walking on water exercise. You three should know that we've been a team for two years already. That's why these three are so much older than you are. Not only that but all three of them specialize in fields where chakra control is not just a bonus but a necessity. They're going to be helping you with this as much as they can."

This information seemed to cheer up the three genin, something that made him chuckle softly.

"Now you three, try your best to copy what I did and use the kunai to mark the tree when you can't go any further. Push yourselves to go past it each and every time you go up. Ready? Begin!"

The five ninja watched team seven's first attempt at the exercise and upon seeing Naruto fall directly on his head, Yuna immediately moved towards him, ready to tend to Naruto. It was only when Kakashi extended his hand in front of her that the eager medic stopped, fixing the older ninja with a look of confusion as he simply shook his head before explaining to her why he had stopped her.

"My team need to learn from their mistakes Yuna. Babying them by healing every single bump and scratch is only going to wear you out and teach my genin that they can make whatever mistakes they want as long as they have a medic around to heal them." Yuna hesitated for a moment as she turned her gaze towards the injured boy before frowning softly as she relented, allowing her gaze to fall to the ground with a soft sigh. It was then that she felt a single hand rest fondly on the top of her head, something that caused the girl's gaze to lift in shock as the masked ninja gave her what she assumed was a smile underneath his mask.

"You're a very sweet girl and I appreciate your commitment to your chosen field but please do not heal them unless they really get hurt, alright?"

"I understand."

"Wow, the broody Uchiha did better than I thought he would." Yuuki's voice disrupted their conversation as Sasuke landed back on the ground, only to hear Sakura's comment about how the exercise was easy and they all looked up, stunned to find her already at the top of the tree.

Holy shit.

Whatever annoyance he might have felt towards the pinkette was completely forgotten as he called out to her, an impressed grin crossing his lips as he complimented the girl's accomplishment.

"Well done! Even Yuna and I didn't get it on our first try and we were the top in our class at chakra control when we graduated!"

Maybe he underestimated her.

Kakashi complimented her as well, goading on Sasuke and Naruto as he spoke, something that irritated both of the boys and sent them both running.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

To say that things were tense at dinner time was a complete understatement.

The three members of Team One watched in a mixture of both horror and awe as Naruto and Sasuke raced to finish their food before asking for seconds, only to end up throwing up their food all over the floor, something that made Yuuki cringe in disgust before he slid his portion of food over to Naruto with a not so subtle look of reproach on his face.

"You can have mine, Naruto-kun. I seem to have lost my appetite."

"Oi! Stop eating if you're going to keep throwing it back up! And Yuuki-san, don't encourage them by giving them your food!" Sakura all but roared as she glared at the two boys in absolute disgust before they made up some excuse about eating to get stronger which was immediately shut down by Kakashi.

What they were doing just wasn't healthy.

The tension slowly faded away and things started to go back to normal until after dinner when Sakura happened to mention a torn photograph, mentioning that Inari had been staring at it all through dinner, something that was enough to make Inari run away, upset. It was then that they were told all about Inari's problems and what had happened to Inari's father Kaiza.

The man Gato really deserved to die.

They watched as Naruto jumped to his feet, shaking before falling straight to the ground. Kakashi told him that he couldn't risk using up anymore chakra before Naruto would get to his feet again, swearing that he would prove to Inari that heroes did exist.

That boy was as stubborn as they came and yet,

Yuuki couldn't help but smile.

Somehow, he believed that since it came from Naruto, he would find a way to make it happen.

The boy was already changing him.

Oh goody.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So four chapters in and this is the first note I've left for you! I know that this chapter was kind of Yuna centric and that some of you are probably wondering when I'm going to get to the Gaara X Yuuki bit. I promise that I'm getting to it.
> 
> The reason that it's taking so long is that this story is going to serve as a starting point for the rest of my stories. There will be a total of six, starting with Leia. The other stories will branch off from here and while all stories will have Yuuki, Yuna, Akio, and Ryosuke in them at some point, each story will be focused more on one character in particular, meaning there will be six stories altogether. All of these stories are connected in some way or another, so I recommend reading each one if you get the chance though you will also notice that with each story, certain details will change based on each story. For example, while some things may be a certain way in Leia, that doesn't mean that every story will follow that exact path, so if you're interested in seeing just where this world of mine goes, I recommend reading the others along with this one.
> 
> Also, it goes without saying that while some things may follow canon, others will be completely changed. Whether it is for the better or whether the changes are worse, is up to you to decide. The stories go as followed, in no particular order.
> 
> Leia - Yuuki centric, focuses on Yuuki X Gaara's story. (Rated E for reasons) 
> 
> Reon - Yuna Centric, Focuses on Yuna X Haku's story. (Rated E for reasons)
> 
> Eris - Akio Centric, Focuses on Akio X Sai's story (Rated E for reasons)
> 
> Oath - Ryosuke Centric, Focuses on Ryosuke x Kakashi's story. (Rated E for reasons)
> 
> Soundless Voice - Akira Centric, Akira X Orochimaru's story. (Rated E for reasons)
> 
> Requiem of a Snow Covered World - Kiyoshi centric, Itachi x Kiyoshi. (Rated E for reasons)
> 
> I'm curious! If there are any of you who plan on sticking along for the journey, whose story are you most excited to read? Do you like the characters so far? Please let me know, I'm curious to see what you guys think.


	5. Chapter 5: My Place is With You

Just a quick note that this chapter will be very heavily centered around Yuna and Haku. A good part of this chapter will be told from Yuna's perspective. 

I also managed to sneak in a Kakashi and Ryosuke moment. For those of you who are curious, [Here is what Yuna looks like!](https://app.photobucket.com/u/XaydenA/p/9e73bc0e-db6e-4371-b9a1-8ca6ea7f6a84?mode=zoom>here%20is%20what%20Yuna%20looks%20like.</a></p>%0A%0A<p%20align=)

I hope you enjoy the chapter! With that said, let's begin!

[](https://app.photobucket.com/u/XaydenA/p/9e73bc0e-db6e-4371-b9a1-8ca6ea7f6a84?mode=zoom>here%20is%20what%20Yuna%20looks%20like.</a></p>%0A%0A<p%20align=)

* * *

["Yuna."](https://app.photobucket.com/u/XaydenA/p/9e73bc0e-db6e-4371-b9a1-8ca6ea7f6a84?mode=zoom>here%20is%20what%20Yuna%20looks%20like.</a></p>%0A%0A<p%20align=)

[

The soft voice from the depths of her memories plagued her yet again, causing her heart to ache within her chest as she recalled those warm brown eyes and that black hair as she thought about the childhood friend of hers. The friend that she had been forced to leave behind when her parents and her left Kirigakure all of those years ago.

She could recall the last time that she had seen him, dirty and starving, shivering from the cold. She recalled the promise she had made to him as she had run off, promising to come back with her parents so they could all leave that horrible country together.

Despite that, it was simply not meant to be.

By the time she managed to convince her parents that it was Haku that she had seen and they returned to where she had last seen him, he had already been gone and no amount of searching was able to help her find him. She hoped to god that wherever he was, he was happy, safe, and healthy.

As long as he was okay, she'd never ask for anything ever again.

* * *

It was a nice morning as she made her way through the forest, blue eyes carefully scanning her surroundings as she tried to find the boy who had not yet returned from his training. It had been decided that she was the best choice to search for Naruto and the minute that she had finished her breakfast she had immediately set out in search of the blonde, concern etching away at her heart.

She hoped that he hadn't pushed himself so hard.

A few long moments passed with her searching the forest before she finally managed to find him sitting in the middle of the woods, picking herbs while speaking with a person who had long, beautiful black hair and a pretty pink kimono. There was a moment of silence as Yuna observed the new-comer with a cautious gaze, debating whether or not she should be worried about Naruto's safety after everything that had happened with Zabuza, eyes narrowing slightly as she inwardly debated what the best course of action for her to take was.

By some miracle, the blond happened to see her and waved energetically with that warm smile of his that immediately soothed any concern she might have had. Her blue eyes softened the minute her gaze met Naruto's and as he called to her, she could not help but give the energetic blonde a small smile.

"Yuna-chan! Come here real fast! You've gotta meet this nice lady I met! She let me help her with picking some herbs, maybe she could help you collect some supplies! You did say that you needed to stock up on things, right?" Yuna blinked a few times in complete surprise at the fact that the blonde had remembered that she was running low on medical herbs before her gaze softened upon seeing the eager expression on Naruto's face.

He looked so much like a pup, so eager and anxious for approval.

  
If her heart had not already belonged to another, perhaps it would have learned to beat for him instead?

"Yes. You're right, I'm coming Naruto-kun." She mused softly before making her way over to the pair just in time for the person to stand and turn around, causing her to freeze in her tracks as those eyes immediately widened.

He was not a girl, but a boy.

Immediately she lowered her body into a bow, cheeks burning from embarrassment as she tried to find the words she needed in order to properly apologize for Naruto only to be silenced by a soft chuckle and as she rose with a bewildered expression on her features, she was surprised to see pure amusement in the boy's eyes.

"Come now, Yuna. I know it has been a long time, but surely you haven't forgotten that I'm not so easily offended." The boy spoke to her with such familiarity that it almost scared her as she stared at him, trying to place where she might have known him from.

Black hair.

Brown eyes.

That same warm smile that plagued her memories.

No way.

Her heart lept in her chest as her gaze turned from one of confusion into one of disbelief, that gaze softening immediately as tears came to her eyes, heart aching even more as she saw that that tender smile and those warm brown eyes had not changed even the slightest bit.

This had to be him, there was no doubt in her mind.

"Haku." She breathed softly, moving closer to the boy before she wrapped him up in a tight hug, hugging her friend as if he might completely disappear once she released him.

"I can't believe that it's you. I have so much to say to you. I'm so happy that you're healthy and okay. I-"

"Ehh? You guys know each other?!" Yuna's train of thought left her as she turned her attention back to Naruto, an apologetic smile on her features as she released Haku from her hug.

"I suppose that you could say that." She mused softly, blue eyes looking up at the slightly taller boy with a warm smile, heart leaping once again as that smile was returned before Haku turned his attention to Naruto.

"We're childhood friends. We got separated when Yuna left the Land of Water." That reminder caused the kunoichi to frown as she turned her attention to Naruto once more.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Do you mind giving us a moment? The others sent me to come and find you, at any rate, perhaps you should go back. I'll come back in a bit, I promise."

She smiled sheepishly as the blonde groaned grumpily before moving to stand to give them some time alone, just as she had asked.

"By the way, before you leave, Naruto-kun." Haku spoke with a sly smile, brown eyes sparkling slightly as the boy turned to him with a confused gaze.

"I'm a boy."

The look on Naruto's face at the revelation was enough to make her burst out into laughter.

The look on his face was just too funny to resist.

* * *

Once Naruto returned to Tazuna's house and she managed to calm herself down completely, she found the patient gaze of her long lost friend focused completely on her. She finally spoke in an attempt to explain herself to the one person she had never stopped thinking about.

"Haku. Like I said before. I have so much that I want to tell you. The first is, that I did keep my promise. I came back for you with mother and father a few days later. It took me that long to convince them that I was not crazy or that it wasn't the wishful musings of a child who missed their friend. Once I was able to somehow convince them that it was you I found, we returned to the spot I found you, but when we came back, you were nowhere to be found."

The amount of shock in those warm browns at that information almost stung and yet, the kunoichi continued on with her explanation, desperate to redeem herself in the eyes of her best friend.

"I searched for you for days. We all did because we wanted to bring you with us to the Land Of Fire and I'm so sorry that we ever stopped looking for you. The Tsukino were already aware of our disappearance and we had to leave."

They would have killed them if they had caught them.

"I just want to let you know there was never a day that passed where I wouldn't think of you. I hoped and prayed that you were happy, healthy, and most importantly, safe. That was all I wanted for you and I swore that I would never ask for anything again. But..here I am ready to break that promise. Haku. I don't know what you're doing here or why you are here. I don't know if I even still have a place in your heart as I did in the past. But, I would like to correct my mistake. I told myself I would at least ask you if I ever ran into you again."

She hesitated for a moment, those blues lifting to meet those browns.

"Please. Come to the Land Of Fire with me."

* * *

It was a while later before Yuna would return to Tazuna's home, heart heavy and expression forlorn as she recalled Haku's answer to her.

_"Yuna. Thank you so much for everything. Knowing that you never forgot me and knowing that I've been in your heart all of this time means everything to me. But, I am going to have to refuse. I have..someone who is very precious to me and I cannot just leave them. I hope that you understand."_

She did.

She understood so well and she knew that she had no right after everything to ask such a thing of him and yet;

Even so;

A part of her had selfishly hoped that against all odds that he would agree to come to Konoha with her.

The blue-haired woman was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she had not noticed the icy blue eyes that watched her until she finally heard that voice speak to her.

"Yuna. We were worried when Naruto came back without you. Yuuki and Naruto left again to try and find you a few moments ago, I'm surprised you didn't run into them."

Akio.

For a moment she attempted to gather her thoughts, trying to think of what to say and how to say it to Akio before his soft voice interrupted her thoughts as he spoke again.

"Naruto said that you ran into someone you knew in the forest. Who was it Yuna? You're not in any danger, are you? Should I get Ryosuke-sensei?"

"It was.. _him_."

"Him?"

"Haku, Akio. After all of this time, I found him here of all places." Those icy blues widened upon hearing that name and immediately his features melted into something softer.

"You found him after all this time and yet, he's not here?"

"...No...I..suppose...he's not."

"He's...not coming. Is he?"

"No. He's...not. He says that he has someone precious to him. He can't just up and leave them."

Her smile faltered and she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"It was so selfish of me. I should not have asked. How could I even ask him to abandon his life here and just leave with me? I'm so foolish."

"Yuna."

"I mean. We haven't spoken since we were children. I should have known better. I can't believe-" She trailed off as she was drawn into a powerful hug, falling silent as her normally distant teammate simply held her within his arms, his cheek moving to rest on top of her head, falling silent for a long moment before he finally spoke.

"You're crying."

It was with that sentence that she could no longer contain herself, tears falling from her eyes as she finally allowed herself to release all of her pent up emotions.

Her precious person...had found someone even more precious to him than she had once been.

While she knew she was being silly, she couldn't help but cry.

It really did hurt.

* * *

As dinner was served, the ninjas all gather around the table, silently eating their fill. As it turned out, Sakura and Kakashi were worried about the two missing members of Team Seven while Yuuki and Ryosuke occasionally gifted Yuna a worried look when they believed she was not paying attention to what was happening around her.

Akio had told them about what had occurred in the forest and had warned all of them not to bring it up around her.

Even so, they still worried about their gentle-hearted medic.

The quietness of dinner was shattered when Naruto and Sasuke finally made it to dinner, speaking about how they had finally made it to the very top of the tree, something that made Kakashi smile brightly at the two boys along with Ryosuke.

"Excellent! Now you two along with Yuna and Akio can finally join in on guarding Tazuna at the bridge site."

The news was enough to make Ryosuke beam as well. "That's great news, I was starting to get worried that Sakura, Yuuki, and I were going to be the only ones seeing any action. Great job you two-"

It was then that Inari spoke softly to Naruto, asking him why he worked so hard until he got exhausted. He went on to say that there was no way he would be a match for Gato even if he trained and that no matter how much effort he put in, that no matter what the things he said were, that the weak always lost against the truly strong.

Naruto promptly told him to shut up when he was done speaking, saying that he was nothing like Inari.

That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

They watched in silence as Inari screamed out, telling Naruto that looking at him made him sick. He told him that they stuck their noses in without knowing a single detail about that land, telling him that he did not act frivolously like Naruto before also saying that Naruto knew nothing about pain, something that made Naruto's expression grow dark.

Then he exploded.

He asked Inari if he was going to keep crying all day like some lead in a tragedy before going on to say that an idiot like him could keep crying for all he cared as he stood up and walked away, ignoring the scolding from Sakura and as Inari ran away. Everything remained silent before Kakashi rose from his seat, gaze falling on Ryosuke who simply sighed.

"Come with me Ryo. It seems as though we need to have a talk with that boy."

* * *

The two jonin finally found the boy sitting alone at the pier staring out at the sea with a solemn expression on his young face and that was enough to make the black-haired man frown slightly as he cautiously called out to the boy.

"Inari-kun?" The boy did not move nor did he acknowledge Ryosuke's call, something that made him sigh softly before he gave the child a weak smile.

"Do you have a moment? Kakashi and I would like to talk to you if that's okay?"

The boy was still silent, so they both simply took a seat next to the child, Kakashi taking initiative as he spoke about Naruto and the struggles that he had gone through, telling him that if anyone could relate to his feelings that it was Naruto. He told him that Naruto did not know either one of his parents and that until recently, he did not have a single friend.

He was so much like his own students that it wasn't even funny.

When Kakashi said that the words that Naruto had said were definitely words that he had said to himself in the past, that golden gaze softened before he spoke to Inari.

"What he says is true, Inari-kun. Sometimes, in life, it is the person who has the brightest smile who deals with the most pain." That surprised gaze was enough to make his gaze soften even further.

"So please..don't say that Naruto-kun or anyone else for that matter do not know what pain is, alright?"

Inari returned home shortly after their talk and for the longest of moments, the two jonin remained, staring out at the sea in comfortable silence before Kakashi spoke.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Since we've seen the ocean?"

"Since we've had a moment to be alone together like this." The black-haired ninja simply shook his head with a sad smile, all traces of playfulness gone for a moment as those golden eyes finally moved to look at the man next to him, brow rising slightly at the man's choice of words.

"You wanted it that way, remember? You made it quite clear a while back that you thought I was annoying and that I was forcing my friendship on you. So, I left you alone. Besides, I have kids now as do you. Having even just one is enough to keep people busy, never mind us having three each. Besides, we have known each other our entire lives. What more could I possibly learn about you that I don't already know at this point?" Ryosuke shook his head as he heard Kakashi sigh upon hearing the words that he had said all those years ago being thrown back in his face by the person who had once been his best friend.

"Ryo, I was wrong to say that. Everything seemed to happen all at once. We lost Obito and then Rin and I... didn't know how to handle things better. I should not have lashed out at you, you did not deserve that. You are one of the only ones I have left. Pushing you away was probably the most foolish thing I've ever done. I am sorry."

Ryosuke's gaze turned to look at the water once again, a sigh leaving him before he spoke once again.

"I already forgave you a long time ago, idiot. I was just explaining why we haven't been together alone like this. I noticed that you didn't answer my question though Kakashi. I knew I was right. You could not surprise me if you tried."

"I would not count me out just yet, Ryo. I might just surprise you one of these days."

"As I said earlier, you are incapable of surprising me anymore Kakashi." Ryosuke mused with a deadpan expression on his face, before yawning as he moved to stand.

"It's getting late. We should head home and get to bed if we're going to escort Tazuna-san to and from the bridge tomorrow." He helped Kakashi up and as they started to head home he contemplated just what Kakashi had meant on their entire walk and as they finally made it to their room, he gasped as he felt the warmth of a pair of lips pressing against his cheek through the fabric of Kakashi's mask.

"I told you that you might be surprised." The tone that the silver-haired man used was playful and that dark gaze held a certain mischievous light in it as he disappeared behind the door, leaving a flustered Ryosuke behind.

Well played Kakashi. Well played.

* * *

The next morning found them leaving Naruto behind, Kakashi was convinced that the blonde had pushed himself to the point where he would not even be able to move and as they all left to go to the bridge, there was this sort of foreboding feeling in the air that did not seem to leave the group no matter what they tried to do to distract themselves from it.

Something was going to happen.

A frown slowly crossed Yuuki's lips as they got even closer to the bridge, the Genjutsu user allowing his chakra to switch to sensory mode when they finally reached the bridge a few moments later, only to find all of the workers knocked unconscious. Blue eyes narrowed slightly as his chakra flared within him upon sensing two chakra signals, one dark and heavy, almost suffocating. The other was strange, calm, and yet somehow powerful, like a calm sea that was ready to sweep you away if you let down your guard. It was a moment later that his eyes shot open as he recognized just who was responsible for all of this.

Son of a bitch, he hated the fact that he was right.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Ryosuke-Sensei. It seems as though we have company. Yuna was right after all. Zabuza is very much alive and it seems like his accomplice is here. At any rate, we're not alone."

The minute the words left him, they were immediately surrounded by mist once again, and immediately they got into their assigned position, the five genin surrounding Tazuna, as they protected him on all sides once again.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Kakashi and Ryosuke. I see that you both still have the brats with you. The dark one's still trembling. Poor thing." It was then that they were surrounded by water clones and Kakashi gave Sasuke permission to take all of the clones out, something that he did with ease before revealing that he had been trembling with excitement.

"So he could see the clones. The brat's grown a lot. This means a rival has emerged for you, Haku." The moment that name was said, it was as if the world stopped spinning. Yuuki's blood ran cold as a heavy feeling filled his chest. He thought that he might be sick, hearing that name and a quick glance towards Yuna proved that he wasn't the only one that felt that way. One look at Yuna was enough to show him that the blue-haired girl was completely horrified, something that caused him to gift the girl a pity filled gaze as he steeled himself before speaking to his longtime friend and teammate.

"Yuna. I'm sorry but it can't be helped. We'll have to kill him if they won't back down."

Yuna gave a shuddering sigh in response to his words, eyes closing as she tried to reel in her emotions. It took a moment before she'd open her eyes again, not making a single sound as she slowly moved towards the front of the group, ignoring the frantic call of her name from Yuuki as she did so. She'd even go as far as to ignore the amused gaze of Zabuza as her gaze remained focused on the masked boy. There were so many emotions that were echoing in her heart and she thought to herself that if this was what things had come to, then why had she been allowed to see him again?

She didn't understand.

"We finally meet each other again after all of this time and this is how it is to be? Haku..you know that I'm going to have to fight you. You've known this entire time that I was here to protect Tazuna-san. You've known since you showed up that first time on the way here. So why, why did you choose to reveal yourself to me? Why let me know that you were okay if you knew it was going to come to this?"

Silence.

"Am I not even worth an answer to you Haku?"

"Stupid girl. Whatever bond you might have had with him is as good as broken. Haku is nothing more than a tool to use at my leisure." Zabuza's voice drawled out before he gestured to the masked boy.

"As a matter of fact. I'll let you be the first to see just how loyal to me he is. Haku, kill her first."

Much to their surprise, the boy showed no hesitation as he turned his body to face her. For a moment, time froze and it seemed to be just the two of them once again. Then he made his move, silently advancing towards her. He'd move in front of her, standing so close that the two of them were nearly touching before he'd slowly draw his senbon, wordlessly raising it before moving to attack her only to be intercepted by Sasuke as he moved in to protect the older girl from the enemy's blow, holding off the needle with his Kunai as he turned an unamused gaze towards the stunned medic.

"Whoever this guy might have been to you, he's the enemy now. Kill your emotions and do whatever is necessary to complete the mission." Sasuke's voice was cold and unfeeling as he continued to block Haku's blows, Yuna's gaze not leaving the masked boy until a hand rested securely on her shoulder, her gaze turning when that hand squeezed her shoulder firmly in an attempt to capture her attention.

Akio.

"Yuna. Protect Tazuna-San with Sakura. Yuuki and I will back up Sasuke. There's no reason for you to have to get involved and dirty your hands with this traitor." Akio glared at the masked boy darkly before turning his attention towards the blue-haired girl as she shook her head in response to his suggestion. Her eyes had never left Sasuke and Haku, the girl wincing when Sasuke managed to outspeed Haku before kicking him down to the ground. Her trembling fingers gripped onto the edge of her sleeves and she'd inhale sharply, closing her eyes for a moment as she calmed her nerves once again.

"My purpose on this mission is to ensure that you guys survive. I need to go where you go. If it means I have to fight him, then so be it. I will not turn my back on you guys and abandon my duty." Her eyes opened, gaze colder than it had been moments before as she was filled with a new resolve. No matter what, she'd do everything in her power to keep her teammates safe and complete the mission. She was not going to take the easy way and stand down, for anyone or anything.

Not even for Haku.

Kakashi finally spoke, telling Zabuza that he could not let him get away with calling their team brats. He then went on to say that Sasuke was the number one rookie in the village and that Sakura was the smartest.

"That means that the other three are useless then?" Zabuza's voice mocked the members of team one before his eyes widened as a kunai was sent flying towards him by a Ryosuke who gifted the man an eerily sweet smile.

"Oh my, you're such a brave soul to talk about my kids that way. My team is far from useless. I just see no need to reveal their skills to you. Especially since your boy seems to know my girl." He smiled darkly as Haku slowly stood from the ground and gaze narrowing when Zabuza merely laughed as a response before telling Haku that at this rate he would be defeated by his intended victims, then he felt a spike in the boy's chakra that had his hairs standing on the back of his neck.

Whatever he was about to do, this was not going to be good.

The Konoha ninja watched as he managed to create mirrors out of ice, trapping Sasuke in the middle before slipping inside one of the mirrors and as Kakashi and Ryosuke moved to try and help him, Zabuza immediately blocked their path, warning that he would kill Tazuna and Sakura if they tried anything, something that made Ryosuke's gaze narrow once again before he slowly fell back, standing by Sakura with his kunai drawn.

"Yuuki. Akio. Yuna. Go help Sasuke. It seems as though I'll be reduced to staying here and keeping that bastard away from Tazuna and Sakura. I have faith in you three." The three genin nodded at their sensei's words before body flickering over to the mirrors, Zabuza trying to intercept them before being stopped by Kakashi who protected the three of them from his attack.

"Your opponent is me, Zabuza."

* * *

It was a moment later that Sasuke's screams began filling the air as Haku started ruthlessly attacking him and Yuna's resolve immediately hardened as she saw the damage that Haku was causing to Sasuke from the outside of the mirrors.

She watched as Sakura called out to Sasuke before throwing a kunai his way, only to have Haku catch it. For a moment, everyone remained still, fearing the worst before a shuriken came flying out of nowhere, managing to knock Haku out of the mirror he was in.

"Yuna." The call of her name was enough to snap her out of it, the female ninja moving quickly over to Sasuke's side, eyes narrowing as she looked over the damage before quickly making signs, activating her medical ninjutsu as she began to heal Sasuke's wounds, eyes watching the form of Haku closely, ready to jump up and attack if need be, tensing as he got up and relaxing only when she realized that he seemed to be distracted by something.

Naruto had arrived.

Hopefully, he was capable of distracting Haku long enough for her to not only heal Sasuke properly but also long enough to allow the two of them to escape before Haku noticed she was even in there.

At least, she could hope.

"Hang in there Sasuke-san. I'm going to heal you the best that I can and then we can get out of here. Just try and stay quiet and avoid drawing- what is that look for?" She questioned, brow rising as she saw the dark, almost haunted look that had appeared within Sasuke's eyes the very minute Haku had summoned his mirrors. It was as if the boy had been trapped within some kind of horrible nightmare and Yuna couldn't help but wonder what was going on with the younger boy.

  
"This jutsu...I..."  
  


Her gaze narrowed slightly in response, waiting for Sasuke to finish his statement as she continued to heal him.

"It..reminds me.."

A small, gentle smile.

Long brown hair.

Sharp brown eyes.

"Of things I'd rather not think about."

  
Blood.

**_Somuchblood.Toomuchblood._ **

Corpses everywhere.

A torn scrap of kimono.

A single strand of hair.

"Hurry up and finish healing me so we can get out of here."

There were some things Sasuke Uchiha did not want to think about.

  
**_He_** was one of them.

The sooner they got out of there, the better.

* * *

The purple-haired illusionist was left speechless at the random appearance the blonde made, watching him as he announced himself for everyone to hear and see before he used the Shadow clone jutsu as he charged forward, Zabuza throwing shuriken at him only for Haku to save his life, an action that made the illusionist's eyes narrow, his mind racing before he quickly came to a conclusion.

Haku didn't want them to die for some reason.

Which meant.

Those blues fell upon Yuna, contemplating for the longest of moments, a smirk coating his features as his hands immediately began weaving signs.

Hopefully, this would work.

At the very least it would teach the masked bastard a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

* * *

Yuna helped Sasuke sit up while carefully looking him over in an attempt to make sure that none of his vitals were injured before quietly murmuring.

"Does it feel like he might have done any internal damage Sasuke-san?"

"No. There's no mistaking that he uses senbon but so far there's been no attempt by him to target any of my vital points." That information was enough to make Yuna's gaze narrow, unsure if he was simply playing with Sasuke or if he was really trying to spare his life.

Haku...just what was his true aim?

She helped Sasuke stand completely, ready to try and get them out of the mirrors when they heard Haku apologize to Naruto for deceiving them. He told Naruto that deceiving was part of the shinobi way and asked him not to take his deception personally, something that seemed to set Sasuke off as he threw a kunai at Haku only for him to dodge without even having to look.

"I haven't forgotten about you." The mask turned to face their direction and for a moment, he fell completely still as he saw his childhood friend supporting Sasuke, eyes narrowed into a fierce glare as her grip on Sasuke tightened.

"Yuna. You...should not have gotten involved. You should have stayed away from my mirrors. I did not want to have to hurt you of all people, even if my earlier actions against you state the contrary. You are my first and dearest friend. I wish it did not have to come to this.." His voice sounded sad, as though the thought of her having involved herself truly did cause him pain. For a brief moment, the kunoichi almost believed him.

Then, both her gaze and her resolve slowly hardened.

Her eyes fell closed once again, the blue-haired kunoichi steeling her heart in an attempt to ready herself for what she was about to do.

"That's why you came after me with your senbon the moment your master ordered you to do so. Right, Haku? Save your words, for they will not sway me from my duty. It has become clear what path you have chosen and since I will not be swayed from my path, your words, they no longer have a meaning to me." Her statement was once again greeted by silence for the longest of moments before a soft, almost shaky sounding sigh resonated off of the mirrors as the boy spoke.

"Very well Yuna, I will do my best to make this fast. I do not wish for you have to suffer through any unnecessary pain. Forgive me, Yuna. Naruto-kun. I'll get to you in a moment, followed by you two." He turned his head towards Yuuki and Akio, pausing for a moment as he met Yuuki's eyes through the mask before disappearing quickly into the mirror, Yuuki's smirk going unseen.

If his hunch was right, Haku would lose the will to fight fairly soon.

If he was wrong;

He'd be the first one to throw his ass in there to get Yuna and Sasuke out of there.

* * *

The moment that Haku appeared in the mirrors once again, Sasuke separated himself from Yuna, intending to make it difficult for him to hit both of them at the same time. Those dark eyes narrowed as he reached for his kunai only for Haku to disappear and reappear in the mirror behind him, senbon drawn before he attacked both him and Yuna.

At least, that was what he thought he was doing.

When the attack stopped his gaze immediately shot over to Yuna and while she was damaged slightly from the attack, there was no denying that she was still much better off than he was.

Despite his words, Haku was trying his best to avoid attacking her as much as he could.

That much was obvious.

It seemed as though Yuna caught on as well if the way her eyes narrowed was anything to go by. For a long moment, they remained silent as they tried to figure out how Haku's mirrors worked before both of them were rendered speechless when Naruto somehow ended up inside the mirrors, grinning brightly as he claimed that he was there to save them both.

Well, _shit_.

* * *

**_Shit._ **

**_Shit!_ **

**_Shiiiiiit._ **

He did not think that Naruto was going to run inside of the mirrors like that.

Yuuki panicked for a long moment, thinking about just what the hell he was going to do now that Naruto had all too eagerly thrown himself inside of what was clearly a death trap. He bit down on his lower lip roughly before sighing as his eyes narrowed.

He was going to have to go in there.

He could hear Sasuke and Naruto arguing from inside the mirrors and quickly took the moment to slip inside, using the distraction from their arguing to cast another genjutsu that was likely going to scar both Sasuke and Naruto for life.

That said, it was also going to be the only way all of them were going to get out of there alive.

Sacrifices had to be made.

He swiftly grabbed onto the medic before promptly shoving Yuna from the inside of the mirrors to the outside, watching as she stumbled back towards Akio while creating the illusion that she was still in there with them, wincing as he felt the masked boy's attention turning towards him before he'd force a careless smirk.

"I thought I would try to use the noise that you two are making as a distraction to get Yuna the hell out of here but it seems as though I got caught. I'm sorry Yuna."

"It's okay. Thanks for trying. I'd rather be with you anyways."

Oh, those were the words he had always wanted to hear from Yuna.

Of course, they had to come from a damn genjutsu.

The words seemed to do something to the masked boy who froze upon hearing the words that came from Yuna's lips. For the longest of moments, Haku seemed to watch the two of them in complete silence, along with a very stunned Sasuke and Naruto, who stared at the two of them in disbelief as well. The moment that the illusion smiled sweetly up at him, he flinched before turning his attention back to the masked boy who, in turn, slowly raised the senbon that he was holding in Yuuki's direction.

"You. You'll be the first one I take care of."

_Oh **shit.**_

**_Abort,_ **

**_Abort!_ **

Sasuke used that moment to try and melt the mirrors only for nothing to happen, Haku's voice coldly telling him that the level of heat he produced was incapable of melting his mirrors. He then moved to attack all of them, Yuuki left hissing from the pain once the attack was over. He glared up at the masked demon as he cursed the stupid boy under his breath. A quick look towards the other two showed that he had received more damage from the last attack than both Sasuke and Naruto, something that caused the illusionist to inwardly roll his eyes.

Jealous ass.

It was revealed by Haku just how his mirrors worked before it was revealed by Kakashi that what Haku had was known as a Kekkei Genkai, something that made him groan softly under his breath.

If this was anything like Ryosuke-sensei's Lava release, if his plan didn't work then they were screwed.

All he needed was for the boy to give him one good chance to activate his genjutsu.

That was all it would take.

* * *

Haku chose to take that moment to speak, saying that fully becoming a shinobi was difficult for him because he did not want to kill or be killed by them. He then tried to say that if they continued to come at him with everything they had, that he would kill off his feelings with a sword and become a complete shinobi.

He said that he wanted to protect the person who was dear to him and that for the sake of that person he worked and fought, something that made Yuuki scoff.

"For the sake of that person, you'd keep an entire country impoverished. For that person, you'd kill Yuna in cold blood when all she ever wanted to do was find you!" He hissed darkly, glaring up at the other boy as he lost his temper, the purple-haired boy forcing his body to stand despite his injuries.

"All she ever talked about was the boy she was forced to leave behind and how much she wished for you to be doing well. She worried about you at every turn, wished for your health and happiness, and swore that she would never ask for anything ever again if she could just see you one more time."

He watched as Haku's mask turned to look at the illusion, who simply stayed silent, looking down at the ground and saying nothing.

"She came home crying that day, right after she met you, you asshole! She felt so bad and selfish for asking you to come to Konoha with her. She called herself all kinds of horrible names because she thought that she was being an awful person but you manipulated her! If Zabuza is all that you care about then prove it. Strike us down here and now." For a moment, he hoped that he might have gotten through to the boy behind the mask as silence rang through the air in response to his words, though his hopes were quickly dashed when he heard Haku's next words.

"For the sake of that person, I have no choice but to kill you all. Forgive me."

He raised his senbon once again and at that moment Naruto decided to use the Shadow Clone jutsu, forcing Haku to get rid of the clones before he attacked Sasuke. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the illusion of Yuna slowly climbed to her feet, staring blankly ahead as if she had simply given up after hearing Haku's words.

Good.

Naruto used the Shadow Clone jutsu two more times and Sasuke managed to burn the bottom of one of Haku's pant legs before the attacks stopped once again. Sasuke told Naruto to run and attack from the outside while the three of them attacked from the inside and as Naruto made to run away, Haku kicked him back into the middle of the mirrors before throwing senbon into Sasuke's arm.

They attempted to do it a second time before he managed to hit Sasuke in his leg and Naruto in his back and at this point, Yuna slowly made her way towards the two boys, completely unnoticed just as Yuuki had hoped she would be. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Sasuke began fending off all of Haku's attacks before grabbing Naruto and jumping out of the way, looking up to reveal that he had managed to activate his own Kekkei Genkai.

Sasuke now had the Sharingan.

Yuuki watched as Haku moved to target Naruto before smirking as his genjutsu finally fell into place, Yuna moving in front of Naruto just as Haku went to make the killing blow before Yuuki quickly adopted a look of horror, matching the expression on Sasuke's face.

It did just look like Haku had landed the killing blow on Yuna after all.

* * *

"Akio what the hell are you doing?! Let me go! I need to be there to heal them! Haku will kill them in there if I don't help them!" Yuna's blue eyes turned around to glare at her teammate who up until that point had been restraining her, preventing her from returning to her place inside of the mirrors to help the others.

"Yuna, I can't do that! We have to stay out of the way! Yuuki came up with a plan. For that plan to work, you cannot be seen by Sasuke, Naruto, Haku, or anyone for that matter! Trust in me! They'll be fine!"

Yuna's body stopped it's struggling as she turned around to look at her teammate, brow furrowing slightly.

"A plan? Why didn't you guys let me know about this? I wouldn't have acted so rashly if you would have just told me!"

"Yuuki only came up with it after that dumbass Sasuke blew your chance to escape without Haku seeing you guys. He's using genjutsu to make Haku, Naruto and Sasuke think that Haku killed you. He seems to think that Haku has been trying to avoid attacking you and he's been trying to avoid fighting you at all. Just like he's trying to avoid killing anyone. Yuna...as much as I hate to say it. I think...he might actually-"

* * *

Naruto woke up to see a sight that immediately made him feel sick to his stomach.

Sasuke was standing a short distance away looking in his direction in absolute horror and as his gaze lifted, blue eyes immediately widened as he saw Yuna standing above him, back facing him with her entire body pierced with Haku's senbon.

What was even more shocking, was the fact that the masked Ninja simply stood there, almost as if he were the one in shock.

"Y-Yuna." Yuuki's voice was shaking as he slowly made his way over to her.

"Yuna. Why?" That voice came from the masked boy as he reached out for her, his hand flinching back as she collapsed to the ground, before reaching out for her again.

"I couldn't let you kill them. Naruto-kun...and Sasuke-san. They're important to me...just like Zabuza-san is important to you. I may not have a place in your heart any longer but...you will always, always be in mine. Please...stop this. That's...all I ask." She gave him one last smile before her eyes slowly fell closed and she gave her last breath before falling still.

"Y-Yuna. Yuna?" The masked boy became almost frantic, reaching out for her only for a dark growl to leave Naruto and immediately Yuuki cursed in his head. He watched wide-eyed as a vibrant red chakra surrounded Naruto before his eyes became red and his pupils would become like a reptile's.

_**"I'm going to kill you!"** _

Shit.

Why couldn't his plans ever just go smoothly for once?!

* * *

The moment that that vibrant red chakra became visible, her heart lept into her throat as she and Akio watched the chakra take over the inside of the mirrors, swallowing roughly before she gathered herself enough to speak.

"Akio. We should probably get over there. I don't think Yuuki's plan turned out the way he thought it might."

"Agreed. Let's go."

Hopefully, they wouldn't be too late.

They managed to reach the mirrors just in time for Naruto to send Haku crashing through one of them. Immediately her heart lept into her throat as she moved quickly, pushing chakra to the bottom of her feet to increase her speed before she threw herself in between the slowly standing Haku and the enraged Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, stop!" Her eyes closed as she saw a fist heading towards her face, inwardly bracing herself to get hit only to open her eyes a moment later as she saw an enraged Naruto trembling as he held himself back.

**_"Yuuki. This isn't funny. She was your teammate! Have some damn respect! Dispel the genjutsu so I can give this guy what he deserves."_ **

"Naruto, I'm not an illus-"

" _Please...stop._ " The broken voice of her childhood friend made her stop as she looked over her shoulder to look at the broken, dead gaze that he gifted to them, the young medic was stunned as she watched pale tears fall down his cheeks as the mask fell away from his face, shattered.

"I understand if you can never forgive me for what I have done, but this illusion is too _cruel_. I lost my precious Yuna, I _killed_ her with my own hands. I've failed Zabuza. Even so, d-do not make me look at her as if she were still alive.."

He slowly faced Naruto causing Naruto's eyes to widen.

"You...You are the one from that time in the forest. You were supposed to be her friend! You..you tricked us and Yuna after all she did was love you, you _**KILLED** _her!"

"Naruto..." Yuuki's voice broke through the tension as he made his way out from behind the remaining mirrors, helping a very pissed off Sasuke who was looking anywhere but in Yuna's direction.

"That's the real Yuna. Forgive me for tricking you two with my genjutsu but I had to make it convincing for him to stop what he was doing. I figured that him thinking that he hurt her would be the only thing to make him stop and I was half right."

He just didn't expect Naruto to go all crazy.

His gaze then turned to Haku who seemed stunned at what he was hearing as he scowled darkly at him upon finally seeing the bastard's face.

"You! Consider yourself lucky I only did this much to you! After everything you've done, I could have done much worse to you but I figured that this was punishment enough. That and I didn't want to traumatize Sasuke and Naruto more than I needed to."

" Yuna...thank goodness." For a moment the boy seemed truly relieved that she was still alive, before the weight of the situation he was in hit him once again and he turned to face Naruto once more, gaze hardening as he spoke.

"Even so, while I am relieved beyond words that Yuna is okay..the fact that I failed Zabuza still means that I'm useless, a broken tool that has no purpose. Please...Naruto, kill me." For a moment, everyone remained silent before Yuna turned around and much to everyone's surprise, she delivered a swift slap to Haku's face as she glared at the taller boy.

"You! I don't know what is going on in your head, but you are not a tool! You are a shinobi yes, but even more important than that, you are a person! Your life has meaning and I never want to hear you refer to yourself as a tool ever again! You don't live for the sake of other people! You live for yourself and give your life its own meaning, Haku!"

Yuna was furious.

"Furthermore-"

"Yuna. I think he gets it." She glared at Yuuki who held his hands up in defense before sighing deeply, turning her gaze back towards Haku.

"Haku. What you did was wrong. I know that you know it. The person that you are working for is despicable. You're better off going back to the Hidden Mist if this is the sort of thing that you are going to do. You..we are going to end this stupid and pointless fighting. You are going to go talk some sense into your boss and we're all going to go on with our lives, understand?"

"I-"

"Just say yes. It'll be much easier for you in the long run. Yuna's scary when she's upset and you've really managed to make her mad pretty boy."

"I...understand...."

"Good. Now how are we going to make him listen?"

"Um...guys. Kakashi-sensei's got Zabuza pinned down by a bunch of dogs and he looks like he's going to start doing some powerful jutsu." The minute those words left Yuuki's lips, Haku's compliant look quickly turned into one of desperation. As if he were capable of reading his mind, Yuuki's gaze narrowed and he'd share a look with a very annoyed Akio before tilting his head towards the pain in the ass with a smirk, that smirk growing when he saw that dangerous light enter Akio's icy eyes as he quickly stepped towards Haku.

Oh, this was going to be good.

"Zabuza-" A swift hit was gifted to the pressure point on the back of Haku's neck and immediately, the boy fell unconscious with a hard thud onto the ground. Everyone's stunned gazes turned towards an unapologetic Akio standing behind him as he fixed everyone but Yuuki with a deadpan look

"He was getting to be annoying. I thought it might be better if he slept for a while." He offered as his means of an explanation in an attempt to placate Yuna, who looked at the two of them with an incredulous expression on her face before Akio's icy gaze turned to Yuuki in question.

"You managed to somehow make a fake Yuna and convince everyone that he killed her. Is there any way you can make a sleeping person look like a corpse?"

The smile that crept across Yuuki's face in response was enough to creep everyone out.

"Not only can I do it, I have a plan. Everyone, I hope you're good actors because this is what we're going to do."

* * *

"Kakashi-Sensei!" The injured Jonin looked to the right upon hearing his name called, relieved to see that all of the Hidden Leaf genn were still alive, even if they did look like they had been dragged through hell and back.

"We...managed to beat him but we weren't able to convince him to step down. We had to put him down." Akio's cold voice cut through the air as he looked to the side before turning his icy glare on to Zabuza who merely stilled at the news, watching Yuuki lay the boy down in the middle of the bridge in front of him.

"So that's how it is. Haku was a good tool, in the end, he failed to beat you but he made himself useful." The careless way that he spoke about the boy that loved him so much was enough to rub everyone the wrong way.

But perhaps no one was more pissed off than Naruto.

"A tool?! Is that what you saw him as?! He really liked you! He did everything you asked of him, fought us, and died for you to make your dream come true and all you can say is that he was a tool?!"

It was then that the bastard Gato decided to show up to the bridge with a small army, mocking Zabuza as he was pinned down by Kakashi's dogs. He'd talk smugly about how he had been defeated even going out of his way to kick Haku's unconscious form, saying that he had almost broken his arm. Yuuki flinched slightly when he heard the sound, frowning when Akio had to restrain Yuna to prevent her from doing something to the ugly bastard.

Yuuki would have to apologize to both of them about that later.

It was then that Naruto moved to attack Gato only to be restrained by a worn-out Ryosuke.

"Naruto-kun. Don't." Naruto continued to struggle in his hold, demanding that Zabuza say or do something as he struggled to get free from the golden-eyed man's grasp.

"Naruto-kun while I understand how you feel...Zabuza-san isn't our enemy any longer-"

"-He is still my enemy! Haku didn't have any dreams but he was happy helping you accomplish yours! Is this how people get when they get as strong as you? Because someone like him..someone like him dying as a tool. It's too much. Too painful." The sight of Naruto's tears managed to hurt even Ryosuke who found his grasp slipping on him until he yanked himself free.

"Do you really not feel anything at all? Nothing?" It was then that Zabuza would tell him to stop talking, tears falling down his face as he confirmed that shinobi were human as well and that Haku was special.

Then he asked for a kunai, which Naruto tossed to him.

That was when the real party began. Everyone watched with wide eyes as Zabuza chased after Gato, taking down various thugs along the way before finally managing to track him down, stabbing him multiple times before sending him into the ocean and scaring off the other rogue ninja as he made his way over to Haku, surprised when Yuna stepped forward.

"Listen, girl. I...am sorry for everything. I know that Haku was special to you. I was lying before. I could tell that you were special to him If I could change anything I would-"

"There's no need for that. Come on. Let me heal you. Haku will be very upset if he wakes up and sees you injured like that."

It was clear that Zabuza was confused upon hearing her words, something that made the blue-haired kunoichi smirk as she turned to her teammates.

"He's not really dead. He was pissing us off so we knocked him out and kept him under a genjutsu so he wouldn't wake up." Yuuki drawled lazily before making his way over to him and kneeling down.

"Release!" The moment that the genjutsu was lifted Haku all but shoot up, eyes widening when he saw the state of Zabuza, relaxing only moments later when he was told that he was okay and that Yuna would be healing him in a few moments.

The battle was finally over.

* * *

It was a few days later that the bridge was finally completed and was named The Great Naruto Bridge. The two teams were getting ready to return home, saying their final goodbyes to the villagers as well as Haku and Zabuza.

Things were interesting to say the very least.

The two genin teams watched with mixed reactions as Yuna and Haku said their goodbyes to each other, each of them obviously not wanting to let the other one go but not knowing what to do about it.

"I can't believe Yuna likes him of all people. He's too much of a coward to ask if he can still come even though it's clear that he wants to." Yuuki scowled as he glared at the other boy only to wince when he was elbowed in the side by an annoyed Sakura.

"Hey! Knock it off, I think it's cute! They'd make a cute couple! Don't ruin their moment with your jealousy!"

"Hn."

"This is so awkward..."

"Very much so. I feel kind of bad for intruding on such an intimate moment."

"Please don't be afraid to contact me if you ever need anything, alright Haku?" She hesitated to look up at those brown eyes before quickly averting her gaze once again.

"Goodbye Haku. Please...take care of yourself."

With that said they finally began their long journey home.

* * *

"I can't believe you let her go."

"Zabuza-sama?"

"Haku...it's clear to me that you want to go with her. Why didn't you ask her if the invitation was still open?"

"After rejecting her the first time..and after everything that happened...I do not think that it would be appropriate. Plus, I don't want to just leave you-"

"Haku. You're a sweet kid, Naive but sweet. You have spent most of your life with me on the run at this point when you could have had a home. You've been wonderful company but your place is with her, not with me. Go to her. It should be easy enough to get into the village since you were never officially a mist ninja and since no one knows what you actually look like beneath that damn mask. Go with her and live your life. But before you do, I need you to make me a promise."

"Anything Zabuza-sama."

"Don't lose her to that purple-haired pretty boy. He was glaring at you the entire time. If you lose to someone like him, I'll never forgive you." The mere mention of Yuuki was enough to make the gentle ninja's smile become strained.

He did not like him.

"Zabuza..I...can never thank you properly for everything...are you sure that you will be okay? That this is okay?"

"I'm sure kid. Go live your life Haku." Haku couldn't stop himself from giving Zabuza a tight hug, surprising the taller man before he gifted Zabuza his final farewell.

He could never properly thank him for everything he had done for him but, he would start by doing as he asked.

He owed both Yuna and Zabuza that much.

* * *

A soft sigh left the blue-haired girl as she trailed behind the two teams, heart feeling a little heavy at the fact that she would be returning home alone but at the same time, she was happy that Haku was happy and healthy.

That was all she could ask for.

"Uh...guys. Hate to break it to you but we've got someone approaching us pretty fast." Yuuki mused, eyes closing as he gifted a strained smile, a little bit irritated that they hadn't even been on the road for ten minutes and someone was already coming after them.

This was getting really old, real fast.

Imagine everyone's surprise when a familiar long-haired shinobi appeared from the trees before landing soundlessly down by a confused Yuna.

"Haku? What are you doing here? Did something already happen?"

"No...nothing like that. Yuna...I...was wondering if that invitation...was still open?" Yuna's brow furrowed slightly when she heard his words, a soft sigh leaving her before she looked up at her long lost friend.

"Haku. You don't have to do this. If you are happy with Zabuza, that's where you should be. I don't want you to come with me only for you to end up regretting it."

"Yuna-"

"Please...Haku I want you to pick where you truly want to go. Do not come with me because you feel like you owe me or because you might feel guilty-"

"Yuna. My place is with you. You...are precious to me. You have been since we were children and you always will be. I want to go with you. I want to be by your side. If you will have me, I promise that I will never make you sad or worried again."

"Haku..I'll say yes on one condition."

"What is that?"

"You need to live for yourself. Do things that make yourself happy. Don't just do what you think I want or what you think will make me happy. I want you to be happy as well. Promise me that much, please."

"I..promise." That smile that lit up the face of the medic was gentle and warm as she hugged the boy tightly.

"Then come on, let's go home."

"I'll say it once and I'll say it again. I can't believe I lost to that guy. What does he have that I don't?"

"Hmm...he's got a Kekkei Genkai for one. He seems sweet if not a bit needy. He's strong and on top of that, now he's got Yuna. She'll never choose you over him, not that you stood much of a chance with her anyway."

"..."

"Too soon?"

"Screw you Akio."

](https://app.photobucket.com/u/XaydenA/p/9e73bc0e-db6e-4371-b9a1-8ca6ea7f6a84?mode=zoom>here%20is%20what%20Yuna%20looks%20like.</a></p>%0A%0A<p%20align=)


	6. Chapter Six: A Blast From The Past! Enter: Gaara of the Sand!

The very moment they finally returned to the Hidden Leaf, Haku was taken into custody for questioning and interrogation. Ryosuke and Kakashi left them to report to the Third Hokage, both seemingly at odds with one another. Kakashi had been slightly put off by the fact that Yuna had asked Haku to return to the hidden leaf with them, stating that such a thing was not good because if it ever got out that Haku once worked with Zabuza, all of them were going to be in serious trouble. Ryosuke, on the other hand, disagreed completely with Kakashi's fears.

"Kakashi, no one knows what the boy actually looks like. No one ever has ever seen his face! We can easily tell them that Haku is another Yuna, running away from the brutality of the Blood Mist village." He had spoken with a tired sigh, golden eyes watching the two as they spoke quietly with each other.

"At any rate, I am not going to make her choose Kakashi. The village has always isolated her because of the very fact that she was born in Kirigakure. If she was given the choice between the village, a village that has always isolated him and the boy she has always loved, a boy that she's always held close to her heart at that, you, and I both know that she would have chosen him in a heartbeat,"

He would have created a rouge out of his gentle-hearted medic for a foolish reason.

Ever since the disagreement things had been scarily quiet between the two of them and as he and Kakashi left the group, he instructed all of them to go home and get a good night's sleep because their training was going to start the first thing in the morning and he promised with a scary smile that it was going to be absolutely brutal.

Oh goody.

* * *

Ryosuke had not been lying.

Over the course of the next few days, Haku had been released from interrogation and had been tested to see just where his skills were at. It was determined that the boy could have easily been made a jonin with his skills and speed, However, there were protests amongst the elders that had the Hokage deem that he needed to take the exams and pass like everyone else had to in the village before he was given a proper promotion. It was determined that he was to start out as a genin and that, for the time being, he was going to be allowed to help Ryosuke train Team One until they managed to find a team for him to take the exams with.

That was fine with Ryosuke.

While Yuuki was not thrilled to have the pretty boy joining their team to help with their training, he had to admit that Haku was truly skilled. Whatever issues they had with one another was forgotten as Haku helped him practice his aim, along with helping him strengthen his endurance and speed. He even helped him with his hand to hand combat, something that he was known to be horrible at amongst his teammates. When Haku realized just how terrible Yuuki truly was when it came to Taijutsu along just how weak he was, Haku simply frowned.

"Your genjutsu skills are powerful, I will admit that much. But there will be times when you cannot rely solely on Genjutsu. You will either meet an opponent who is immune to it like Sasuke-kun is supposed to be with his Sharingan. Or you will find another genjutsu specialist who will be able to see through anything you may try to use on them. It's best if you're at least passable with Taijutsu and ninjutsu as a last resort." Ninjutsu wasn't the problem, Yuuki assured the long-haired boy.

Taijutsu was going to be a massive pain in the ass, however.

That statement was enough to make the boy smile sweetly as he slowly pulled out a scroll that looked oddly familiar, something that immediately made him anxious.

"What do you have there?" Yuuki was wise enough to question, eying the scroll as though the object had done something to personally offend him. He was already not liking the direction this was heading.

That smile on Haku's face was foreboding.

"Oh, this? This is a scroll that Yuna made for me. It's to help me with using my Crystal Ice mirrors. She was kind enough to seal away quite a bit of water into a lot of scrolls so I would always have access to my jutsu in case I need it and there isn't a source of water available for me to use. I have quite a bit of them, so I'm sure that she won't mind me using one to help with your speed and your endurance. Now then, we're going to have a repeat of the battle in the Land of Waves. You are going to try your best to dodge or block whatever I throw at you. Good luck~"

It was official, his life sucked.

After he was essentially turned into the human version of a pincushion, he was finally allowed to leave with the promise that he was going to be facing Haku in a taijutsu battle for training the following morning. A soft groan left him as he thought about how the boy was essentially going to wipe the floor with him. He swore that beneath that angelic face, Haku was a sadist. As if reading his thoughts, the boy simply smiled sweetly, though the look in his eyes made him shiver unpleasantly the longer he stared at him.

Needless to say, he had been the very first to abandon the training fields, Yuna and Akio staying behind along with Haku and Ryosuke for additional ninjutsu training.

Ryosuke had tested them the day prior to see what natures their chakra were. Much to Haku's delight, Yuna's chakra nature had been water. Ryosuke had been happy to find that Akio had a fire nature, making it that much easier for each of them to be trained by the two more experienced shinobi on their team. As it turned out, to nobody's great surprise, Haku's affinity was also water, while Ryosuke also had an affinity for the fire natured chakra.

Yuuki had once again been the odd one out, having lightning as his chakra nature.

Surprise, surprise.

* * *

He returned to his home after making a stop along the way to retrieve any mail that he might have gotten while he had been gone. A small twitch left him as he saw the large number of letters that had been sent to him from Sunagakure during his absence. He honestly wondered just how the hell the siblings managed to find the time to write to him in between all of their missions and the other responsibilities he knew they had as the children of the Kazekage.

Then again, he probably should have told them that he was going to be gone for an extended amount of time while he was on that mission.

For some reason, the letters that were sent to him always increased in number before quickly becoming panicked whenever he did not respond in a timely fashion. Once, he had refrained from responding to them simply to see what would happen, and much to his great disdain, their letters did not stop coming until he finally wrote them a reply. Knowing all too well what was in store for him if he chose to ignore their letters once again, he'd grab a random one from the pile, quickly opening it and as he read it over, a single brow rose in surprise the moment he realized that the sender of this particular letter was none other than Gaara.

He.. didn't usually send him letters.

For a moment, the purple-haired boy was completely still as he stared down at the letter, blue eyes looking down and yet, not reading before they slowly closed and with vivid clarity, he remembered the first time he had met the red-haired boy.

* * *

( **Eight years Earlier** )

* * *

It had been a normal day for the seven-year-old, reading the fairytale his mother had gotten him solely for the purpose of keeping him out of trouble while her friend came to visit them. A sudden knock on the door caused the boy to twitch slightly in irritation, those midnight blues glaring at the door as his mother answered it. He'd watch in silence as a pretty blonde man entered their home, followed by a tiny red-haired boy. The adults spoke quietly amongst themselves before looking back at Yuuki along with the red-haired boy who stared at him with shy mint eyes, peeking out at him from behind the pretty blonde's leg, something that made him twitch before an irritated smile crossed his lips.

"You know, I am sitting right here. If this is about me, which I am sure it is with the way you guys keep looking at me, you can just tell me instead of pretending that I am not here and staring at me. That's very rude, you know." His blunt tone was enough to cause the sandy blonde to gape at him slightly in surprise while his mother simply laughed nervously at the reaction of her friend as she tucked a loose strand of wavy pink hair behind her ear.

"You see what I mean Yashamaru? Yuuki has always been a bit different from other children his age. Any hesitation I had was for Gaara's sake, not my son's. I am worried he might hurt Gaara's feelings and we can't have that. He's too cute to be hurt by my bully of a son." She cooed sweetly at the shy red-haired boy, smiling as he blushed before he once again turned his gaze onto Yuuki, who simply twitched at the rude remark before giving a little pout as his gaze returned to his book.

It was then that little Gaara gathered up his courage and left the sides of the adults, making his way over to the table where Yuuki sat, squeezing his bear tightly as he looked up at the slightly older boy until Yuuki looked down at him with a brow raised.

"Can I help you?"

"Um." The boy spoke softly, looking down at the floor shyly, gathering up even more courage before he met Yuuki's amused gaze.

"You're really pretty, just like your mommy! I-I want to play with you and be your friend. Can I?" That pleading teal gaze was enough to melt the sarcastic child's heart and he found himself unable to say anything but yes.

It had been the start of a beautiful friendship.

Gaara had been the only child that Yuuki was willing to put up with for longer than a few seconds. As such, his mother Raiza was more than delighted to have Gaara over as often as she possibly could, determined that she would make Yuuki socialize with at least one person. At one point, the crazy woman had even joked that she was going to make sure that Yuuki married Gaara just so he wouldn't die alone like the antisocial person she knew he'd grow up to be.

"You and Gaara will be just like me and your father." She had often joked about the two of them.

The only thing was, Gaara didn't see it as a joke.

The five-year-old had been delighted with the idea that he might one day marry his best and only friend, talking about it nonstop and even making the two of them have a pretend wedding one day in the comfort of his own living room. His amused parents and Gaara's siblings were the only guests along with Gaara's teddy while Yashamaru played the role of the officiant.

They even had rings.

Everything had gone perfect up until the day that he was told that they were going to be leaving Sunagakure for Konoha by his father, the stern expression on his face enough to quell any protests from the purple-haired boy as everything in their house was packed up and taken to the leaf village.

Poor Gaara, however, had had no problems showing his displeasure.

On the day that they were to leave for good, Gaara had chosen to stubbornly cling to Yuuki, crying his eyes out as he wailed about his 'husband' leaving him all alone. It was all he could do to comfort the sobbing redhead, a hand rubbing at his hair while his mother watched, a frown crossing her lips before she slipped a piece of paper into Yashamaru's hand.

The address for the place they would be living in once they reached the Hidden Leaf village.

"Give it to Temari and Kankuro as well. It's not fair that the children have to suffer because of the Kazekage's actions. Gaara-kun won't lose Yuuki, I promise that if he writes to him, I'll make sure that Yuuki keeps in touch."

She wasn't lying.

The first time he had gotten a letter from Gaara and his siblings, she made him reply and the letter had been sent out a mere hour after he had first received it which prompted a response the very next day.

That was how the tradition started.

Then at some point a year later, the letters from everyone suddenly stopped for some reason. He had kept waiting and waiting for his letters, waiting weeks and weeks only to receive nothing and slowly hope would fade away.

Then he got a letter out of the blue from Temari, continuing off of his last letter as if nothing had ever happened. Kankuro sent a letter the next day and the pattern continued as if it had never stopped. He later found out that the reason the letters had stopped was that Yashamaru had died in the middle of some mission with Gaara having been the person to take the death of his beloved uncle the hardest and while he could easily believe what he was being told, there was one thing that bothered him more than anything else.

Why was he not hearing this from Gaara himself?

While he loved Temari and Kankuro as if they were his own siblings, it was no replacement for having proper communication with his best friend. He received small updates about the boy that he had once been so close to whenever he asked and yet, it simply was not the same. It was not until his tenth birthday when he received the news that his parents had both been killed on what should have been a C-ranked mission that he finally heard from Gaara again.

Grief upon hearing the news that his parents had left him all alone in the world caused him to shut himself off completely. The ten-year-old had been left numb and alone as he ignored each and every single one of the letters that Temari and Kankuro sent. He ignored how often they came, ignored them even when they started sending the letters frantically, and then one day, he finally received a letter from the one person he honestly thought he would never hear from again.

Gaara.

The words had been messy and the writing had been childish and yet, the words were so unlike anything the Gaara he had once known was capable of ever saying to anyone, cold and to the point, with not a trace of warmth to be found.

_Yuuki,_

_We have tried to reach you with no success. Now I am getting involved. Respond to our letters or I will come and find you and when I find you, I will drag you back to Sunagakure._

_This is where you belong, after all._

_You have three days before I come to get you._

_\- Gaara._

Needless to say, he quickly responded to the letters, letting them know what had happened and why he had not been responding, ensuring them that he was okay and that they did not need to come to the hidden leaf for him.

That had been the last time he had been warned about not responding to the letters they sent.

* * *

( **Present Day** )

* * *

A soft sigh left the fifteen-year-old as his gaze fell upon the letter once again, swallowing roughly as a feeling of apprehension came crashing down over him before he finally forced himself to read Gaara's words.

_Yuuki,_

_Since you have decided to disappear again despite my last warning, it can no longer be helped._

_I will be coming for you._

_We will be coming to Konoha for the Chunin Exams and once we have completed them, you will be returning to Sunagakure with us._

_You no longer have anything to hold you there any longer._

_We will be there in three days._

_Be prepared._

_` Gaara._

For a moment he fell completely still, gaze looking down at the parchment trying to get a clue as to when this was sent only to find absolutely nothing that gave him any indicator of when Gaara had written or sent the letter to him. It was then that his heart immediately fell to his stomach as the boy swallowed roughly. Depending on just when this letter was sent, Gaara and his siblings were either on their way to Konoha or they were already here and probably in the process of trying to find his home using the address they were given.

Perhaps it would be smart to use Genjutsu to hide his address for the time being.

* * *

Whatever his concerns were, they were completely forgotten the moment he arrived at the training grounds and had come to find that Haku and Ryosuke were already there waiting for him with Yuna and Akio were nowhere in sight.

"Yuna and Akio were given the day off today after they finished their training yesterday. Yuuki, Haku told me that you were even worse with Taijutsu than I had originally believed. I just want to take a moment and apologize to you because I feel like I let you down as your sensei. I have always known that you were going to be a genjutsu based ninja and as such, I was not too worried about ensuring that you were balanced in the areas that you are weak in which was an error on my part. Even if you are talented, I should have ensured that you were well balanced just in case you ever have to fight someone who is immune to your genjutsu."

"There will be times when my genjutsu will not work on people, so I should be more balanced, I get it. But I guess I always believed that since ninja are usually sent to do missions and stuff on teams that my lack of skill in taijutsu wouldn't really matter. But things do happen, what happened to my parents should have been an eye-opener, but it wasn't. I'm not the strongest ninja, I don't think I ever will be, but if I can get to the point where I can hold my own in a taijutsu battle, I think that I'll be happy." That was enough to make Ryosuke and Haku look at each other before smiling.

"Well said. With that said, I think that any style you use will have to be fast and effective. So you are going to watch closely as Haku and I fight, we are going to show you the fastest and most effective way to disarm someone in the least amount of time, then you're going to spar against us. We will not stop until you've managed to properly beat either one of us.

If he was going to recommend his team for the Chunin exams this year, he needed to make sure that Yuki learned how to properly defend himself in a battle just in case he managed to make it into the final stages of the exams and happened to be pit against either a Hyūga or Sasuke, which was a very real possibility.

He refused to just let Yuuki get beat.

* * *

To say that he was sore was perhaps the biggest understatement he could ever have made. While he knew that Haku wiping the floor clean with him in a one on one Taijutsu battle for hours on end was meant to help him in some way or another, he simply could not help but become frustrated with how advanced the boy was in almost every single way compared to him.

The only thing he had on Haku was his genjutsu.

A soft sigh left the purple-haired boy as he recalled the less than honest way he had finally managed to beat the boy, having seen an opportunity to trip him and taking it before pouncing on the stumbling boy as he attempted to catch his balance, kunai drawn and held at his throat as he clung to his back so tightly that he would have been incapable of shaking him off even if he hadn't had the kunai at his throat.

Was it dirty?

Yes.

But it helped him win and at that point, he was starting to question if there was a way he would be able to incorporate tricks and evasive tactics into his Taijutsu to help wear his opponent out before he finally had a chance to strike them down. It might not be the most honorable way of fighting an opponent, but then again, since when did he really give a shit about honor?

He was a genjutsu user for Kami's sake, his whole battle style revolved around tricks and illusions to help him get ahead of his opponent using any means necessary.

A sigh left him once again before he jolted forward in surprise as he felt a hand move to clamp down on his shoulder, the illusionist jumping slightly before he quickly turned around only to see the smirking face of the Uchiha heir, something that made him sigh softly before he spoke.

"Can I help you with something Sasuke?"

While he still was not overly fond of the boy, the fact that he had so quickly come to defend Yuna when push came to shove was enough to win him a grudging amount of respect from the genjutsu user, even if he had threatened to set his ass on fire for having him believe that Yuna had died during the battle with Haku.

At least he had defended them.

"Hn. I've been looking for you for the better part of a half-hour. Where were you?"

"My sensei thought that it was a good idea for me to brush up on some Taijutsu, so he had me spar with him and Haku over at the training grounds until I managed to beat one of them." The snort that was torn from the Uchiha heir made him twitch slightly as his smile became strained, eyes narrowing the slightest bit as he inwardly called the arrogant boy that stood in front of him all of the rudest names he had in his arsenal, mind snapping from his mental tirade when he heard the boy speak.

"I'm surprised that you managed to beat either one of them. You don't seem to be the sort who is capable of holding his own when it comes to hand to hand combat. At any rate, I need your help. I want to test out my Sharingan and see how it perceives genjutsu. It's supposed to see through things like genjutsu and yet, you were still able to fool me in that fight against Haku. I'm curious to find out how you were able to do that. If anything, this will help you out as well."

It would help him create a genjutsu capable of fooling even the Sharingan.

"I'll help you, though it's going to have to wait until some other time, I'm a bit too worn out from my training earlier to do any more of it. Was that all that you needed?"

"I wish that I could say yes. Yuna happened to come across us when we were coming back from completing a mission. She mentioned something about a tradition you guys on your team have where you have dinner together at one of your houses. She was under the impression that since we were all on a team at one point that it meant that we should be included as well. She told me that our dinner is supposed to be held at your home tonight and asked me to remind you."

Yeah, that sounded like Yuna alright.

He had been about to respond when a sudden yell was enough to completely distract him and Sasuke. Their eyes narrowed as they shared a look before nodding as they body-flickered in the direction the yell had come from, both of them watching from a nearby tree as a ninja covered in black held the Hokage's grandson up by the collar of his shirt.

Yuuki's gaze narrowed as he found Naruto sitting on the ground, Sakura looking worried along with two other kids. Imagine his surprise when Yuna and Akio both happened to be there as well, Yuna looking about ready to strike at the black covered ninja and for a moment he frowned as he thought about the best way to interfere before his gaze fell upon the strange ninja's companion, a girl that looked scarily familiar to him. He observed her for a long moment before his gaze fell upon the headband tied around her neck, his jaw dropping when he realized who the woman was.

Temari.

That meant that the boy in black had to be none other than Kankuro, their letters having informed him that the three siblings were on the same team and at that moment his smile became forced as he finally made his presence known to the two older siblings.

"My, My. I never thought you of all people were okay with bullying little kids. It seems as though I was wrong." Their gazes all shot up to look at him and Sasuke, who had taken to sitting on the branch, and the more that he continued to watch, the more irritated that he became before he finally couldn't hide his irritation any longer.

"That's a new low for you, Kankuro-nii. Now drop him before you get into serious trouble for assaulting the Hokage's grandson."

The reactions that came over the ninja's faces when he said his name were absolutely priceless.

"Yuuki, you know him?!"

"Why does that somehow not surprise me?"

"How the hell did you know my-did you just call me Kankuro-nii?" The purple-haired ninja simply smirked in response, watching as those eyes widened before he dropped Konohamaru unceremoniously, the child forgotten as Kankuro's entire expression shifted into one of excitement.

"Yuuki! I was wondering just when the hell we'd run into you! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you! Last I remember you were being roped into marrying Gaara."

_Oh god, he just had to bring that up, didn't he?_

The stares were enough to make him duck his head from embarrassment at the memory. His cheeks burned from the intensity of his blush, the purple-haired ninja quickly jumping down from the tree as he smirked at Kankuro.

"You've grown too, though I can't say I approve of you manhandling Konohamaru." That was enough to make the black-clad ninja scoff before he turned his gaze to Temari, that smirk turning into a smile.

"Hello to you too Temari. Kankuro you should thank your sister, she's the only reason I didn't lock you in a genjutsu. I recognized her right away." That was enough to cause the blonde woman to smirk at her brother who simply rolled her eyes in response before a cold voice pierced through the air, forcing everyone to fall completely silent.

"You should have. He's been an embarrassment to our village since we've arrived." Immediately Yuuki's body tensed up as he felt an intense gaze on his back, slowly turning around to find a very familiar red-headed boy hanging upside down from the same tree he had been in only moments before.

Gaara.

He disappeared in a barrage of sand before reappearing a few feet away from him, fixing him with an intense gaze as he moved even closer to him. Gaara stood so close to him that they were almost chest to chest and his intense stare almost unnerved the older boy. He slowly averted his gaze with an almost nervous laugh, his hand lifting to rub the back of his neck in an attempt to calm his growing nerves.

"Ah, hello Gaara. It's been a long time since we last saw each other, hasn't it? I'm sorry for not responding to the letters...there was this whole thing with a mission and keeping this bridge builder alive and the mission turning from a C-rank into a B-rank in the middle of it all and yeah, I may have forgotten to let you guys know I was going on a mission-"

"Yuuki." That single call of his name was enough to cause the purple-haired ninja to immediately fall silent as his gaze slowly lifted, brow furrowing as he met Gaara's gaze.

"I do not want to hear any excuses from you. I meant what I said in my last letter. You belong in Suna." He moved even closer, the next words were spoken so quietly that even Yuuki had a hard time hearing him.

"This village has caused you to stray from me. Do you think I haven't heard about what you've been up to in your letters? Have you forgotten the vows we made?"

Wait, what?

For a moment the purple-haired boy looked at Gaara in complete confusion as he tried to process just what it was that he was talking about. It was then that the boy finally chose to speak again, his next words enough to nearly leave him panicking at the implication.

"Which one of you is Tsukino, Yuna?"

_They didn't._

A betrayed look slowly turned towards Kankuro and Temari who both wisely chose to avoid his gaze.

Gaara's attention slowly turned towards the only two females of the group, staring at both of them with a cold gaze before Yuna finally swallowed roughly, steeling her resolve as she stepped forward.

"I am. May I ask why you are asking for me?"

Mint clashed with blue for the longest of moments and Yuuki was left watching with bated breath as Gaara's hand moved. He blinked in confusion as Gaara grabbed onto his shirt of all things before yelping as the younger boy yanked him forward and down by the front of his shirt, causing the purple-haired boy to stumble forward a few steps.

"Gaara what the he-" He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence, eyes widening as he felt pressure on his lips.

Immediately his entire face turned red as he registered just what the hell was going on.

Gaara had-

Before he could even properly react to what had just happened to him, Gaara pulled away from him, shooting another cold look at the stunned kunoichi.

"I am only going to say this once. Yuuki belongs to two things. The first being Sunagakure. The second being me." The stuttered protests from Yuuki were pointedly ignored as he slowly released his grip on Yuuki's shirt.

"Interfere with my claim on him and you will answer to my sand."

Wait, what?

"Ga-G-Gaara! Y-You can't just-"

"I just did. Deal with it. Kankuro and Temari, we're leaving. Yuuki." That cold mint gaze fell upon the stuttering illusionist once again.

"Remember that I'm always watching. I meant everything I said, behave or there will be consequences for you."

Oh shit.

Yuuki was left watching the three leave in complete stunned silence before he felt the weight of gazes on his back, swallowing roughly before he turned to meet the stunned gazes of Naruto, Sakura, and the children along with the very amused gazes of his teammates.

They wouldn't dare.

"I didn't know that the penpals you had were your boyfriend and his siblings Yuuki. He's cute! Though... he seems to be very...protective over you." The comment was enough to cause the illusionist to turn a bright, vivid shade of red as he sputtered in his attempt to deny everything she had just said only for Akio to join in.

"I used to think that you were a pervert who enjoyed preying on defenseless women. Now it all makes sense. I almost wonder what he would do if he knew just how many girls you've flirted with over the two years we've been a team."

Oh god.

* * *

The rest of the night was absolute hell for him, with the silent snickers and the constant reminder that Gaara had essentially claimed him as his territory in front of his teammates.

Ryosuke had nearly bust his gut laughing when he was filled in about what had happened with the sand ninja.

"Oh, you are never living this down Yuuki. With all of the trouble you have given me over these last two years. I am never forgetting this." That was enough to make Yuuki twitch, glare turning on his sensei who was shaking from the force of his laughter before turning his glare on Sakura and Naruto who were trying their hardest to keep their laughter in. Sasuke was the only one who didn't seem to find what had happened funny.

For some reason that was enough to make him like him better.

"Sensei! Stop teasing me, it's not funny! If you're this amused over what happened that just means you don't have anything going on in your own life! Let's go find Kakashi-sensei and have him do to you what Gaara did to me and see if you still think it's so funny!"

That was enough to make everyone fall silent again for a moment before Naruto spoke up, clearly confused with what Yuuki had said.

"Eh? Why would Kakashi-sensei plant one on Ryosuke-sensei for?" The blonde looked at the gaping Jonin for the longest of moments before Yuna chuckled softly.

"Naruto, Ryosuke-sensei has been in love with Kakashi-sensei ever since they were kids, Yuuki was teasing him. I am surprised that you did not already know that, however, practically everyone in the village knows that by now. Did you truly not notice?"

Judging by the look on their faces, they didn't.

"It's alright. You three aren't the last to find out, despite our sensei being completely obvious, it seems as though your sensei hasn't figured it out either. Though how he hasn't is beyond me. Apparently, they've known each other almost their whole lives." The purple-haired ninja muttered softly before turning his gaze back to his sensei, face losing it's color when he saw the signature smile that meant that his sensei was going to kill him.

Tomorrow's training was going to suck, he knew that much.

* * *

After their dinner was over and the ninjas filed out one by one, he managed to pull Yuna to the side, gifting her a sheepish smile as he did so before quickly bowing in apology. "So two things. I'm really sorry about what Gaara said, I have no idea why he did that but I am sorry. The second thing is that I need a favor from you. Do you think you can seal away some important things in some scrolls for me?"

The blue-haired girl immediately smiled, waving off his apology before that smile only grew as he asked her to seal things away for him. "Of course. What kind of seal did you need exactly?"

"I need something like a storage scroll but more secure that way the only one who can use it is me. They're really important to me." Yuuki spoke softly, gesturing for her to follow him and when they would reach what was once his parent's bedroom, opening the door and allowing her to see what it was that he had been up to.

There were paintings everywhere.

"Yuuki...these are...How did you get the colors to be so vibrant? They almost look like they're ready to come to life." Yuuki remained silent for a long moment as he would select the paintings that he wanted, offering them to her before speaking softly.

"I infused the paint with my chakra. The colors are so vibrant because my chakra is infused into every single color you see. Every work has a literal piece of me inside of it. I need you to seal them into a storage scroll for me because I plan to incorporate some of these into my fighting, to pair with my genjutsu."

He had been working on this jutsu for a long time.

It was time to put it to practical use.

* * *

When morning finally came, Team One once again found themselves at their designated training grounds, surprised by the sight of a strangely cheerful Ryosuke, those golden eyes shining brightly as he took in the faces of his genin before speaking.

"So. I have some news for all of you. I have decided that you are ready to move on this year. I spoke with Hokage-sama and recommended that you three take the exams this year. You guys have grown so much since the Land of Waves incident and I finally believe that you three have the potential to become Chunin."

He smiled warmly at them before continuing on.

"Of course...it's up to you whether you guys decide to act on my recommendation or not. Here are your applications! If you decide to take the exam, I recommend that you guys spend these next five days preparing and stocking up on whatever supplies you might need. You three will be expected to show up in room three hundred and one at exactly three in the afternoon. That's all I have to say, you guys are free to go."

It was with that that he disappeared and for a moment, all was silent.

"He was in a good mood."

"A _very_ good mood."

"Something must have happened. I doubt he'll tell us anytime soon though." Yuuki felt the glares of his teammates on his back and chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck before deciding to ultimately change the subject. "So, are you two going to take the exams? I think it would be a good idea if we all tried to stick together. What do you guys think?"

"I'm with you. I am ready to take the exam, this is what we've been practicing for, ever since we became Genin. If Ryosuke-sensei thinks that we're ready then surely we must be ready. Besides, we've got the ace in the hole since we have a medic on our team and if the worst should come to pass, I'm sure Haku wouldn't be opposed to helping us too."

"Team Seven would be good to be allied with as well. I just have a feeling that helping each other out will be good in this exam. I think I'm going to study up on my mother and father's books to see if I can learn anything else that might help us. I think we will be just fine."

"Yeah...let's just hope that none of us have to fight each other." Yuuki murmured quietly, brow furrowing as his thoughts strayed to the final person in his thoughts that he hoped he did not have to fight.

Gaara.

He might have changed, but he was still his friend.

He really hoped that he would not have to fight him.

He didn't stand a chance against him.

That much was certain.

* * *

**It took a long time to get here but here you guys go! I hope that you enjoyed the moment with Gaara, I tried to keep him as in character as I could for this moment, I apologize if he seemed to be a little OOC. It is a slight AU after all and while there will be some things that follow canon, some things WILL be altered. Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy this journey and continue down this path with me!**

**For those of you who are curious as to what Yuuki looks like,[This is him!](https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/i/XaydenA/Screen_Shot_2019_10_18_at_11.29.45_PM.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) Or rather, this is what he will look like by the time Shippudden comes around!   
  
Anyways, enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
  
~ Xayden**


	7. Chapter Seven: Yuuki's Blunder: Let The Chunin Exams Begin!

"I just don't get it! How the hell am I unable to see through your genjutsu?"

Yuuki was left smirking at the frustration present in the Uchiha's body and tone of voice as he all but threw a tantrum, the younger boy genuinely frustrated. Even with his new gift, it seemed as though he still was unable to see through Yuuki's genjutsu. While there was no denying the fact that it was very amusing to watch the Uchiha get bested every time he weaved a new genjutsu, their training sessions also showed him that he stood a chance at besting the Uchiha if he was ever unfortunate enough to be the one selected to fight against him for some reason or another.

That was reassuring for him to know.

Even so, he still felt some pity for the younger boy.

"While this was fun, you do know that the reason you can't best my genjutsu is that I'm not your basic genjutsu user, right? I'm a sensor, so once you explained to me how that little eye trick of yours worked, I knew exactly how to get past it." He smirked at the confused look on Sasuke's face before moving to continue on with his explanation.

"Being a sensor means that I can sense and feel another living thing's chakra Sasuke. Every living thing has chakra and my ability means that I can feel how the chakra of various objects naturally feel and use that to my advantage. Once I get a feel for how a thing should feel and have come to realize how something should be, I can incorporate it into my genjutsu. I'm willing to bet that the reason why you cannot see through them right off of the bat is because I weave layers into my illusions and I leave no details out. So to speak."

That is where he had the advantage.

"Most people cannot get a feel for a person's or object's chakra the way that sensors can and because they don't know how to replicate it, they don't-" He started before realization made itself clear on the Uchiha's face as he started to understand just what Yuuki was trying to say.

"That's why people with Sharingan can usually see through genjutsu because we can see if something's chakra is distorted. Usually, it's enough for us to act on the knowledge that if it is, that means that it has to be a genjutsu. But since you have an understanding of how an object's chakra is supposed to feel and look, you are able to replicate it and use that in your illusions. That's what makes it so difficult."

It also meant that Yuuki was going to be a very difficult person for him to fight if it ever came down to that.

He didn't know if he should feel frustrated or excited at that revelation.

"Well if it helps Sasuke, you have the rest of three days to try and figure out something to help you see through my illusions. Though, I think that you'll find that I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve just in case you do happen to get through them." Yuuki gave the Uchiha his signature smile before turning away from that curious look, knowing the black-haired boy wanted him to continue divulging his secrets.

"At any rate, good luck Sasuke. I hope all of you do end up deciding to take the test, it'll be easier to get through them with your team there to support you."

"Tch. Naruto maybe since as much as I do hate to admit it, the idiot has been improving, but Sakura? She's little more than useless. She adds nothing to the team and she does nothing but fawn over me, it's annoying."

Those words were enough for him to shake his head, that smile became strained. He sighed slightly before turning to face Sasuke who continued his statement, though this time about Yuuki's team.

"You're a genjutsu user and a sensor who is average in everything else but Taijutsu. Even then, you said that you've been training so you can defend yourself if push comes to shove. Akio is excellent in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu and has good chakra control. He's horrible with genjutsu, but, he's got you and Yuna to help him. He's also capable enough to get himself out of trouble if he runs into anything he can't handle on his own. The weakest member on your team is arguably Yuna and even then she is capable enough to stand her own ground if she needs to. She can use her medical ninjutsu offensively as well as to heal. She's also got the fact that she can use Fūinjutsu and can seal things along with whatever else she can do with it. You are lucky because your team is at least balanced, even if you all have very different strengths and goal-"

It was clear that Sasuke had been about to say more before Yuuki interrupted him as that strained smile completely fell from his face.

"Sasuke, you should never speak badly about your teammates to anyone, especially not to someone who could potentially be fighting against you in the exams. I understand where your frustration may be coming from, but, and this is a major thing, you should never and I do mean never, look down on your team. They will be the ones that you fight with. They will be the ones who end up protecting you when things go wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking those horrible thoughts about them."

He let those words sink into Sasuke's thick skull for a moment before he continued where he had left off.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, back when we first became a team I didn't like Yuna or Akio either. I thought Yuna was too soft. I thought that as a medic, she'd be a liability and because of that, she'd be useless on our team. I also thought that Akio was a stumbling dumbass who'd never grasp onto even the most basic of skills. Then one day, I was targeted by some idiots who thought it would be funny to make fun of me because my parents died on that C ranked mission. Do you know what happened to them?"

Sasuke said nothing, but it was clear that he listened.

"Yuna heard what those kids said about my dead parents and sent one of those punks flying. To this day, I think that is the angriest I have ever seen her. Even Akio got mad on my behalf and attacked his partner in crime, who apparently didn't learn anything even after seeing his friend get sent flying. I was so cold to them, I treated them like they were beneath me and even then, when it counted, they stood up for me."

They had not turned their backs on him.

He saw the surprised look on Sasuke's face and that smile slowly returned. "Don't underestimate Naruto or Sakura, Sasuke. Give them a chance and they might just surprise you. Especially Sakura. I have a feeling that even if she might seem little more than useless to you right now, she'll ultimately become a powerful kunoichi once she decides to settle down and focus." Maybe he could ask Yuna to take her aside and teach her just a few medical skills just to get her started.

He had a feeling that she might become a good medical ninja.

Just like Yuna.

* * *

After he parted ways with Sasuke he made his way to the town's center to get completely stocked up on whatever supplies he might need in order to help him with the Chunin exams.

"Alright, I have energy bars and snacks. Kunai and shuriken. Scrolls. A few spare sets of clothes for everyone, bandages, and medicine in case we get separated or in case Yuna's chakra gets too low to heal us. I think we are se-" He froze as he felt a very familiar gaze on his back, slowly releasing a shuddering sigh as he tried to calm his rising blood pressure. It'd take a few moments before he finally gathered enough courage to slowly turn around, his body freezing the minute he met that familiar green gaze.

_Oh, for **fuck's sake.**_

For a moment, he contemplated just turning around and walking away, the purple-haired boy wondering just how angry those actions might make Gaara. It wasn't until he saw those eyes narrow slightly that he froze again, inwardly wondering if the redhead was capable of reading his thoughts before ultimately deciding that he might as well resign himself to his fate, especially as those eyes seemed to be challenging him.

_'Just try and run.'_ They seemed to say.

_'You know I'll catch you before you get too far.'_

"Hey Gaara...what brings you here?" He nearly winced at his own words, thinking about just how stupid he must have sounded to his childhood friend before turning his attention back to the red-haired boy. If he didn't know any better, he'd have almost thought that Gaara was amused with the way he'd spoken to him, something flashing in those eyes before he finally spoke.

"Is that how you approach everyone you flirt with or am I just the lucky one?" Gaara's deep voice washed over his senses and for a moment he felt almost wounded at the implication that Gaara thought he wasn't capable of better. His gaze narrowed slightly, a smirk forming across his lips as an idea came to his mind that would not only prove Gaara wrong but would also serve to pay him back for the kiss he had sprung on him in front of everyone.

Ryosuke-sensei was still laughing at him for that one.

God, he hoped this little scheme of his worked.

"I'd be wounded that you think so little of my charm if I hadn't won you over as a child. Clearly, I have to be at least somewhat charming or you wouldn't still want to marry me all of these years later, would you? By the way, do you think that you deserve any of my better material? I mean, you did threaten my teammate's safety and all, despite the fact that she has done absolutely nothing to you." He drawled sardonically, looking at his nails before meeting Gaara's gaze to see that the man looked less than amused by his words and even more so by the fact that he had brought up Yuna, who he could already tell Gaara didn't much care for.

_Jealousy was a bitch~_

"I did not threaten her. I made a promise that the girl will have to answer to me if she tries to interfere with my claim on you. You have been mine since we were children and I do not plan on that changing, now or ever." Gaara's bright gaze darkened at the mere thought of someone trying to take him from him and that was when Yuuki decided to make his move.

"Now now Gaara." He moved closer to the boy who was clearly taken aback and yet, for some reason, Gaara did not call his sand to defend him, just as Yuuki had been hoping he wouldn't. Closer and closer he moved, even allowing his hand to slowly reach up. He'd gently caress the boy's cheek with his hand, honestly surprised that Gaara was even allowing him to touch him before he leaned down and in, his warm breath brushing teasingly against Gaara's lips.

" There is no need to be jealous of anyone, especially not Yuna. She's in love with someone else. Besides, you should know by now that no matter who I flirt with, you're the one I've always loved the most."

He didn't miss the slight coloration in Gaara's cheeks, something that almost made him smirk before he went in for the kill. Lips hovered over Gaara's for a few seconds before changing course as he allowed his lips to brush against the cheek he had been touching only a few moments before. He'd wink playfully at him, before smirking and body flickering away as he heard the small noise that Gaara made when he hadn't actually kissed him.

It was actually kind of cute.

Maybe he should stop flirting with girls and focus his attention on Gaara after all.

If it meant that he could get him to blush and make that cute little noise every single time he chose to tease or flirt with him, then he was almost certain that it would be worth the effort on his part. Then again, doing such a thing meant doing the very thing that Gaara wanted him to do, which meant that he would be playing right into Gaara's hands.

That boy was lucky that he was cute or he'd be a lot more upset about his situation than he actually was.

* * *

Before he knew it, it was already time for Team One to meet each oter at the academy to take the exam. As he found himself approaching the academy, he smiled to see that Yuna and Akio were both already there waiting for him.

"Hey you two, I hope you weren't waiting long." He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck before smiling as Yuna shook her head before rummaging through her pack and pulling out five scrolls for each of them before handing them to him and Akio.

"Here you guys go! Two of these scrolls are storage scrolls that have canteens filled with drinking water. There's a total of ten in each, just in case we need them. One of them has extra weapons. One has food and the last one has medical supplies like bandages and medicine, just in case we get separated. They work the same way as my normal seals do and to activate the seal again, all you need to do is just pour a bit of your chakra into it and it should make everything disappear back into it again." She pulled out one final scroll before handing it to Yuuki. "Here's the special seal you asked me for Yuuki. It does work differently just like you asked. You'll need a small bit of your blood to activate it, so it's just like a summoning scroll. I'm sorry it took so long but I figured I would give it to you now since you said you wanted to incorporate these into your fights somehow."

That made him smile.

Yuna was the best.

"Thank you, Yuna. I appreciate it." Akio was the next one to distribute supplies amongst the three of them, giving them military ration pills along with a little book of the differences between edible plants and poisonous plants that were painstakingly detailed.

"The traitor once told me that there is always a survival exercise included in the exams. He made those for me with the knowledge that we would have to go through it at some point. I hope it helps. The military ration pills are self-explanatory but be careful with taking them. The after-effects on the body are not something you want to have to deal with. Once you take one, we'll only have two or three days before they wear off"

Finally, it was Yuuki's turn.

He gifted both of them the spare outfits that he had purchased for them along with the food. "Just in case something happens. I think the scrolls were a wonderful idea Yuna, but we should save those and the military pills for emergencies." It was then that they heard someone calling out their names and all three of them turned to see none other than their sensei along with Kakashi approaching them. The three members of Team one chose that moment to look at each other with mischievous looks in their eyes as they noticed just how close the silver-haired man was standing to their sensei.

He had to know what he was doing, right?

"I was hoping you three hadn't gone in yet. I wanted to wish each and every one of you good luck and to let you three know that I am very proud of how far you have come, no matter what happens."

"Thank you sensei. Though I can't help but wonder, Kakashi-sensei, why are you with our sensei?" Yuuki asked quietly, brow rising in question as Ryosuke seemed unbothered by his teasing this time, the black-haired jonin remaining strangely calm while Kakashi seemed to be the flustered one at the question for once.

"Kakashi asked me to go and pick him up at his home last night. Apparently, he's been having a hard time with being punctual lately and didn't want to risk missing out on wishing his team good luck with the exams, so, he asked me to escort him. That's why I wasn't already here to greet you, to begin with. This guy is very hard to wake up."

Ah, that explained it.

"At any rate, good luck you three. I will be rooting for all of you every step of the way. Kakashi will escort the three of you to the room and he will wait for his students there. Good luck!" He smiled warmly at his precious genin before body flickering away leaving them with Kakashi who simply smiled awkwardly at the three of them before gesturing for them to follow him.

They made their way to the room in silence before Kakashi finally spoke to the three of them.

"I know that we have not known each other for long at all, but, I just want to say a few things to the three of you. First of all, please be careful. I know this exam might not seem very dangerous, but, people have died during it. I know how much the three of you mean to Ryosuke, I don't want anything to happen to you just because you three took this exam too lightly. Secondly, stick together. You three are a team so look out for each other no matter what and lastly, I know this might be a bit to ask, seeing as you three are not on their team, but if there ever comes a time where you see that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke might need some assistance, please look out for them. I'm asking as a personal favor to me-"

"Sensei." That was enough to make the silver-haired man fall silent as he was greeted with warm smiles on each of the genin's faces, surprised to see that even Akio wasn't as stern as usual.

"We do not abandon our fellow ninja no matter what happens, especially if they are part of our team. As far as I'm concerned, Team One and Team Seven might as well be one big team because we'd never just leave those three to fend for themselves if they were in trouble." Yuna smiled up at the surprised man gently before continuing on.

"I did, after all, invite you all to our weekly team dinner at Yuuki's house the other day. I don't know why you did not attend sensei, but I meant what I said."

"We won't let anyone hurt them and if we can find them during the survival exercise we will try to stick together. We're going to try and find Haku's team as well. We want to try and convince them to work with us if we can." Akio added in as well, gifting the older man a very small smile as that surprised gaze turned to him this time.

"The only thing that we ask in return, on the off chance that something does happen to us, please be there for Ryosuke-sensei and help him through it." They all smiled at him one last time before making their way inside to see that while they were not the last people inside, they were far from the first.

It was time to begin.

* * *

The moment that they stepped inside the room, Yuuki froze as he felt Gaara's gaze on him once again. Immediately, he grabbed his two teammates by their arms and proceeded to drag them as far away from that stare as he possibly could, relaxing as he forced them into a corner of the room and ignoring the bewildered gazes he got out of them in return. The last two encounters he had with Gaara had ended with kisses being given and he was not about to get kissed in front of an entire room of potential enemies.

Nope, not going to happen.

They watched quietly as more and more ninjas arrived to the classroom moments later, their gazes lighting up when Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke finally made their way inside. The three of them slowly made their way over to the younger trio only to pause when they found a blonde girl hanging off of Sasuke, something that made Yuuki snicker softly before Naruto noticed their presence and called out to them.

"Hey! It's you guys! We were hoping that we'd get a chance to see you three here, this is going to be awesome, You know?" Naruto was all but bouncing in his spot while Yuuki smirked at him, hand reaching out to gently ruffle Naruto's hair, gaining protests from the blonde in the process.

"I missed you too Naruto. We all did."

"Hey, who are you three?! I've never seen you before!" The blonde girl called out to the three of them before she took a better look at Akio. Upon noticing her attention, Akio simply raised a brow at her, something that was enough to make her blush before detaching herself from Sasuke.

" I-I mean...I'm Ino Yamanaka, what are your names?" The girl spoke in a soft and sugary tone as she attempted to make herself look charming while she smiled coyly at Akio, who seemed to be very uncomfortable with the sudden attention, averting his gaze as he moved to place himself behind Yuna, slowly inching his way around her to join Yuuki as far away from the blonde girl as possible.

He didn't like the way she looked at him.

"Um.." Yuna gifted her a small, awkward smile before turning her gaze to her teammates who were apparently in no hurry to introduce themselves to the girl. She sighed softly at the realization that it was going to be up to her to explain everything to the other girl, including the introductions, if the boys' behavior was anything to go by.

"The reason why you haven't seen us before is because you are one of the newer squads of genin that just became teams. We're Team One under Ryosuke Yotsuki. We've been a genin team for two years at this point and this is our first time taking the exams. As for who we are, I am Yuna Tsukino. Those two are Yuuki Saito and Akio Koyabashi respectively. It is nice to meet you Ino." She smiled once again at the blonde who simply huffed slightly at the fact that Akio seemed to be ignoring her before turning her gaze towards the three who she had hoped to see, digging through her pack once again before handing each of them their own scrolls.

"They have water, food, medical supplies, and extra weapons. Pour a bit of your chakra in them to make them work and then do the same in order to seal everything back into the scroll when you're done." She instructed, smiling brightly at the grateful looks she was given before she frowned as the blonde shouted out.

"HEY! That shouldn't be allowed! You guys can't help each other out, that should be considered cheating! You guys shouldn't be allowed to take these exams if you're going to cheat!"

That was enough to set Sakura off.

" **DON'T TALK TO YUNA LIKE THAT INO-PIG!** " She glared at the blonde girl before collecting herself.

"For your information, we're basically teammates. They went with us on that big mission we had to the Land Of Waves and helped us out. They've also been helping us train and we eat dinner with them sometimes. They even say we're basically one big team. Don't be rude just because you don't have anybody outside of your team who cares enough to help you the way we do, Ino-pig!"

"That's right. We're just looking out for them. Last I checked, that was not against the rules, so I'd really appreciate it if you refrained from insulting us and calling us cheaters. That's not only rude, but it's very distasteful, such a shame having such deplorable manners on such a pretty face." Yuuki mused with that same annoyed smile he always gifted to people who got on his nerves, smirking as the blonde became flushed by his words, knowing he had hit a soft spot.

"If you know them better than we do, shouldn't you be doing the same thing? Instead of yelling at us for looking out for them, you should be doing your best to help each other out during stressful times like these. What are they teaching at the academy these days?" Akio muttered darkly, that icy blue gaze narrowing slightly in distaste at the blonde girl as he finally acknowledged her before averting his gaze a moment later, a smirk crossing his features when it fell on one person in particular before turning to Yuuki.

"Your boyfriend doesn't look too happy with you. I wonder if he heard you say that she has a pretty face. Or if he's mad that you didn't say hello to him when you came in. Or-"

"Akio, shut the hell up." He all but hissed, cheeks darkening in a fiery blush as he felt Gaara staring at him once again, doing his best not to look in that direction and sighing in relief as more ninja would surround them, effectively blocking him from Gaara's sight. It was when Haku joined them that he nearly cried in relief, shifting around to hide behind him, causing him to receive a very amused glance from the pretty ninja.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Yuna told you?!"

"No, Yuna could tell that you were embarrassed I'm guessing, because she did not say a word to me. Ryosuke-sensei did. I ran into him this morning while I was on my way to meet my temporary team. He couldn't stop laughing the entire time, which is understandable since it is a pretty amusing situation you have found yourself in." The dark-haired ninja mused before Yuuki glared at him.

"Since you think it's so funny I should flirt with you in front of him and see if you still find it funny after, I'm sure he'd **love** that since you happen to look like a very pretty girl."

He took great pride in the way the boy's smile twitched, those cheeks darkening slightly as the look in his eyes became dark with irritation.

Aww, did he hit another soft spot?

"I-" They were interrupted by the arrival of another stranger, a boy with silvery hair and glasses, who told them to settle down. There was something about this guy's very presence that made Yuuki incredibly uncomfortable. Yuuki's gaze narrowed slightly as he watched the boy, quickly switching his chakra to sensory mode to see if he could get a more accurate feel of this guy, only to wince as he was quickly overwhelmed by the number of different chakra signals in the room and switching his chakra back to normal.

He didn't like this guy, but checking his chakra would have to wait.

The stranger called the nine ninjas from the academy the rookie nine before his gaze raked over him, Yuna and Akio. When he stopped a moment longer on Akio than what was necessary, Yuuki felt incredibly uneasy. His blue gaze narrowed even farther as he placed himself protectively in front of Akio and blue clashed with black. For a long moment, they stared at each other coldly in silence, before the guy smirked slightly and quickly distracted everyone else by offering them information on the other ninjas who were taking the exams.

Yuuki really didn't like this guy.

There was something about him that was extremely untrustworthy and the way he had focused on Akio had concerned him.

He'd have to keep a very close eye on him.

Sasuke stepped forward to ask about none other than Gaara and somebody named Rock Lee and for a moment his heart fell into his stomach as the man was easily able to gather information on Rock Lee, including the missions he had gotten, who was on his team and who his sensei was. He even told them about his skills and everything else they wanted to know before turning to Gaara.

Apparently, there wasn't much information about him.

They didn't even know that he was thirteen years old, what his height was, or anything else other than the fact that he had completed eight C ranked missions and one B ranked mission and had returned from all of his missions uninjured.

Yeah, that sounded exactly like Gaara.

"Oh...it seems as though there is one more thing on here. Apparently, it is said that he is known to have a close relationship with a Konoha shinobi. It's been said that he's been seen in public twice with this one person sporting a Konoha headband and that both of these encounters have ended with a kiss. I wonder who that ninja could be." He immediately felt six gazes turn towards him and it was all he could do to fight down the blush that threatened to form. He avoided looking in their direction, pretending as though they did not exist in a pathetic attempt to regain some of his dignity.

Then Naruto yelled that he would not lose to anyone, loud enough for the entire room to hear them.

Oh god, Gaara was looking at them again.

_"He's going to get us killed. He's going to make Gaara come over here and that's going to put a target on my back. Shut. Him. Up."_ Yuuki hissed darkly at Sakura who immediately ran forward, putting Naruto in a chokehold as she told him to shut up. Yuuki swallowed roughly as his gaze happened to meet Gaara's unamused look along with Temari and Kankuro's annoyed gazes. He gifted them a shaky smile, waving at the three of them sheepishly before he looked at Yuna and Akio.

"I'm so screwed."

"We know. So are we."

* * *

Midnight blues narrowed as he heard a thunk coming from a desk and he watched one of the ninjas from the sound throw a kunai at Kabuto. He frowned before he quickly threw his own to deflect them, stepping forward with an irritated smile.

"I don't know how you guys say hello there in your village but here we do not attack each other. Don't come here and make an ass of yourselves in our village. Idiots."

He watched as another one appeared in front of Kabuto, moving to punch him only while Kabuto dodged the attack. He appeared to be fine for a moment only for his glasses to break a second later. He then fell onto his hands and knees before throwing up, something that made Yuna's brow furrow as she attempted to move forward to help him, only for Akio to stop her by pulling on the back of her shirt as he kept her in place.

"Don't. You'll make yourself a bigger target by revealing your strengths. It's best that we don't show off our skills until we absolutely have to. That goes for you as well Yuuki."

They both hesitated, Yuna's brows furrowing before she nodded solemnly while Yuuki merely scoffed.

"I wasn't planning on it. These guys aren't worth the effort it would take to make the signs in the first place." It was a second later that someone appeared in the room in a cloud of smoke, demanding silence before him and a bunch of other ninjas became visible as the smoke cleared.

Oh boy.

He introduced himself as Ibiki Morino, the proctor for the first test of the exam. He then scolded the three ninjas from the sound village telling them that they were not allowed to do as they pleased before the start of the exam. He even went as far as to threaten the three, telling them that he'd fail them then and there which prompted the one who was wrapped up in bandages to apologize to him.

The proctor announced that they were not allowed to fight without permission and that even if they were given permission, they were not allowed to kill another participant. He went on to say that if they messed with him, he would get rid of them immediately. It was then that they were told to get in line and turn in their applications before picking up a paper test and getting a number. They were to sit in their assigned seats and at that revelation, he relaxed immediately.

There was no way he'd end up sitting anywhere close to Gaara with that system, right?

He moved to get in line, handing his application to the proctor and getting a number and the test in exchange, humming cheerfully as he found his seat. Hid brow furrowed as he watched both Yuna and Akio both move, finding their seats on the opposite side of the room from him. He paled slightly when he realized that the numbers must have been given at random, heart sinking in his chest before he came to another realization that there were too many ninjas. Yhere was a one in a million chance that he would-

"Yuuki."

_Son of a bitch_.

* * *

The second he heard his name being called by that familiar voice, he gave a soft, long-suffering sigh before turning his gaze to meet Gaara's. The younger boy looked almost smug, clearly more than a little pleased about how things had turned out. "I don't know how you did this, but I know you did it somehow. If you try kissing me here I swear I-I don't know what I'll do yet but I promise you won't like it."

"If I recall correctly, you are the one who-"

"Okay. You're right! Just sit down and we'll talk about this later. When we're alone and not surrounded by all of these guys who are going to try to kill me because of Naruto." He sighed as Gaara took the seat next to him without complaint before turning his attention back to Gaara as he spoke again.

"You won't die."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Whoever is stupid enough to try will be killed by me. That is how I know that you won't die."

Huh. Aside from the threatening to kill someone part, that was almost sweet.

They turned their attention forward as the proctor began to speak about the rules for the exam. He told them that they started with a total of ten points and that each wrong answer would cost them one point. Every attempt at cheating that got caught cost them two points and that they were to be graded as a team. It was also stated that they had an hour for the exam and that if anyone on their team got a zero, all of them failed as a result.

Oh dear god.

When they were finally given permission to start on their tests, Yuuki immediately looked over each and every single one of those questions, brow furrowing slightly as he realized that there was no way any of the genin in the room were going to be capable enough to answer these questions on their own.

They were supposed to cheat.

For a moment, the illusionist crossed his arms as he looked up at the ceiling. He tried to think about what the best way for him to gather the information without being caught. A moment later, a single sigh left him, gaze drifting lazily around the room to see how his teammates were doing. It seemed as though Yuna was answering the questions by mimicking the muscle movement of the guy next to her while Akio happened to be lucky enough to sit next to Haku, who he knew was going to help him solely due to the fact that he was Yuna's teammate and he didn't want Yuna to fail.

Lucky bastard.

He could cast an illusion, but doing so meant potentially exposing himself and his talents to everyone in the room. Not only that, but in order to ensnare everyone, he needed to use up a lot of his chakra which wasn't an option at the moment. He could try to cheat off of Gaara without getting caught, but, he knew that Gaara was way too observant. While there was a chance that he might let him get away without calling him out, he knew that he was going to have to deal with Gaara's annoyance at a later time.

He was going to have to work out a deal with the younger boy.

A soft sigh left him once again before he quickly grabbed a small piece of loose paper, writing down his note before sliding it over to Gaara who took it from him before it could be seen.

_Gaara,_

_I know you're going to use your sand to find out the answers, what will it cost me for you to let me see your paper when you're done?_

It was a moment later that he received his answer.

**No more games between the two of us. I want you to be mine and only mine. No more flirting with anyone else.**

Well, if that was all it was going to take, fine.

He was never going to tell him that he was already thinking about making Gaara the sole object of his teasing and flirting anyways. The last thing he needed was to have him change the terms of their agreement and ask for something worse.

_Fine. I'll stop with the flirting. You know, it's really cute how jealous you are Gaara, It'd be even cuter if you just admitted you were jealous and wanted all of my attention just on you._

He slid the note to the boy next to him, nearly snickering as he felt him tense up next to him before gasping as a swift elbow dug into his side effectively knocking the wind out of Yuuki. He coughed quietly as he gasped, trying to catch his breath while Gaara continued looking straight ahead as if he had nothing to do with nearly knocking him out.

Asshole.

He watched with narrowed eyes as as the younger boy moved, gathering sand in his hand before forming something that looked like an eye. He watched with thinly veiled fascination as he crushed the sand eye in his hand, allowing the sand to scatter before closing one of his eyes. It was then that he began writing, both eyes opening once he finished, sliding his paper over to Yuuki carelessly. Yuuki looked over his answers quickly, memorizing them to the best of his ability before he turned his attention to his own test as he wrote them down.

Just like that, he was set.

All it cost him was his chance at finding a relationship with someone other than Gaara.

For some reason, he was strangely okay with that.

At least for now, anyways.

* * *

As it turned out, he made his deal with Gaara just in time.

Yuuki was surprised to find out that it was already time for everyone to be given the last question. He listened as Ibiki went over the rules for the very last question and much to his surprise, they were told that if they happened to get the answer wrong, they could never take the exam again, something that made Yuuki's gaze narrow slightly in suspicion as a single brow rose, though he opted to remain silent. He watched calmly as groups opted not to take the question, only to be escorted out of the room.

  
Then Naruto happened.

Much to Yuuki's amazement, Naruto yelled that he would not run away from the question.

Then they were told that they passed the first portion of the exam.

It was enough to make that strained smile cross his features as he twitched slightly, his hand raising immediately in the air as his prior suspicion was proven correct, even so, he couldn't stop himself from speaking when the man gave him permission to ask his question.

"Excuse me, mister proctor. What do you mean we passed? Do we not still need the final question?" It then explained to those who remained that this was meant to be a test to test their information gathering skills. The point of the tenth question was to weed out anyone who wasn't confident with their ability to answer questions or who wasn't willing to put their futures at risk.

In short, Yuuki had just sold himself and his future to Gaara for answers to questions that in the long run meant absolutely nothing.

Now, he was _pissed_.

Luckily for the small portion of sanity Yuuki had left, it was seconds later that the proctor for the second exam came crashing through the window sending glass flying everywhere as she stood, while grinning in a way that sent shivers down the purple-haired boy's spine. He watched in horror as the woman told them that it was time for the second exam and that they all needed to follow her right away. He watched in silence as the crazy woman looked over all of the remaining teams before scolding Ibiki. She went as far as to claim that his portion of the exam was far too easy this time around while Ibiki defended himself, saying that there were many excellent candidates this year.

She then smirked darkly before stating that she'd cut down the remaining teams by more than half by the time she was done with them all.

They were going to leave them in the care of this crazy woman?!  
  
  
She was going to kill them all!

They were told that the next exam was going to be held at a different location and that they needed to get the time and place from their jonin before telling them that they were allowed to leave, a sigh leaving him as his head lowered before he'd plant his face into the hard wood of the desk with a loud "thud!"

He didn't know what the hell was wrong with the leaf village, leaving their lives in the hands of a sadistic woman who went crashing through windows just for the sake of making an entrance.

As he lay there, contemplating every major life decision he had ever made up until this point in his life, he came to two conclusions.

The first was that his life absolutely sucked.

The second was, the test was going to suck even more.

He didn't know which one was worse.


	8. The Forest Of Death: Enter Orochimaru and The Ninja of The Hidden Sound!

The three of them all stood completely still, facing the dark and foreboding forest with a growing sense of dread.

"Well I if had any doubts that she was trying to kill us before, they're gone now," Yuuki mused uneasily before releasing a deep sigh as his fingers smoothed through his hair in an attempt to calm his rising nerves, speaking again once he managed to collect his thoughts enough to continue on with his tirade against the proctors.

"I'm really starting to rethink this whole thing. It's bad enough the first bastard tricked me into selling my future away to Gaara, now this crap?" He wisely chose to ignore the smirks that he knew his teammates were sharing behind his back, for the sake of his faltering sanity.

"I mean, could it get any worse than this?"

"At least your little boyfriend said that he was going to protect you from anyone who comes after you, Yuuki. It could be worse, he could be the one trying to kill you." Akio spoke dryly before smirking at the way his words affected Yuuki, a brow rising in amusement as Yuuki's body went completely tense. The black-haired boy seemed to take joy in Yuuki's discomfort, his previous smirk growing as he spoke again.

"There's also the fact that we know he won't be coming after our scroll now. He seems strong, so there's a good chance that we might have had some serious trouble with him if he came after us. There's also his brother and sister to consider as well. I hate to say it, but there's a good chance we might have failed the exam if we had to fight their team."

Akio did have a point, as much as he hated to admit it.

"As far as signing your future away, it could be worse. He seems to genuinely care about your relationship, which is sweet, even if he is a bit cold. He's not bad-looking, some might even consider him to be handsome. He's a bit younger than you, but you two do have a past together and he very clearly cares about you and your wellbeing, which I think is sweet. As long as he doesn't hurt you or force you into anything before you are ready. As long as he respects your boundaries and there are feelings there, I don't see any harm in giving him an honest chance, Yuuki. You've always talked so sweetly about your friend, so you obviously feel something for him, why not try this out and see where it goes?" 

Yuna smiled warmly at him as he fell completely silent for a long moment, thinking about what the blue-haired girl said before sighing once again.

"I suppose that you're right. I just, I don't know. He's changed so much since we were kids. He used to be this cute, sweet little boy. He used to be really shy as well. Now he is all cold and distant and I have to flirt with him and touch him to get the reaction I want out of him. Kankuro and Temari warned me that he had changed after his uncle's death but I never thought that he might have changed this much."

He missed his best friend.

He had been about to say more before he was interrupted by the crazy female proctor, his blood running cold once again as the crazy woman told them that this place was called The Forest Of Death.

Apparently, they would soon see why it was given that name, something that made Yuuki's anxiety spike as he took in the sadistic smile on her otherwise pretty face.

'There is no amount of beauty in this world or the next that would make that kind of psychopathy attractive.' He mused quietly to himself deep in his thoughts before watching in complete horror as Naruto mocked the crazy woman directly to her face.

He was starting to believe Naruto had a death wish.

Yuuki watched as the woman threw a kunai at Naruto, eyes narrowing as he moved to throw one of his own, deflecting the blade and sending it flying away from the blonde boy, who stood there wide-eyed and trembling. Naruto shot a grateful look towards Yuuki who gave the boy an irritated smile before moving and smacking the boy soundly on the back of the head.

" **OW! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR YUUKI?!** "

**"FIRST YOU PULL THIS SHIT IN THE FIRST EXAM AND NOW HERE?! IF YOU WANT TO GET KILLED DO IT WHEN I AM NOT STANDING NEXT TO YOU!"** He all but roared, his composure forgotten as his irritation showed clearly on his face for the first time in a very long time. A dark smile played across his lips as his eyes narrowed, daring Naruto to speak against him only for that smile to grow when he shrunk back instead.

Good, he was learning~

He immediately flinched back as the creepy proctor body flickered behind the two of them, wincing as he felt the crazy lady's hand touching his cheek. There was something about her touch that made him almost feel violated, the cold feel of her palm against his cheek making him shudder dangerously. His gaze moved to Naruto, concerned about the blonde idiot and what the lady might be doing to him, only to relax when he saw that she was touching him in exactly the same way.

He had been worried she might hurt him because he had mocked her.

"A kid like you is usually the first to die. You should thank your pretty little friend here, he saved you from having a mark on your face. Though I'll be the first to admit that I hate the fact that he stopped me from seeing that pretty red blood that I like so much. That kind of makes me hate him as well." Yuuki hissed in pain as she pinched his cheek, eyes widening as she released it suddenly to draw out a kunai. For a moment, he feared the worst, before he saw a grass ninja returning the kunai with her freakishly long tongue.

Ew, that was gross.

  
While he was disgusted by the grass ninja's display, there was also a part of him that got a bad feeling from the woman. As she moved to leave, their eyes happened to meet and he couldn't help but shudder from the look that she gave him. Those were not the sort of eyes that normal people had, and he found himself praying for the first time in a very long time that could somehow manage to avoid running into that creepy woman from the grass village.

At the very least he could hope, right?

Anko mentioned something about having a lot of hot-blooded kids this time around, saying that this portion of the exam would be fun before telling them that she had forms that she needed to pass out to all of them. As the forms made the rounds amongst the participants, she explained that they needed to sign those forms before they took part in the second part of the exams. Ir was then that the crazy woman said that from now on corpses were going to be involved in the exams.

Apparently, if they didn't sign those papers, then she'd be held personally responsible for the lives that were lost in the forest.

The amount of compassion that was present in the woman was _astounding._

Note the sarcasm.

Anko explained to them that this was considered to be a survival test, before also explaining the sort of terrain that they were going to have to face inside of the forest. She told them about the locked gates surrounding the forest, as well as the rivers and the fact that it was about ten kilometers from the gates to the tower in the middle of the forest. Everyone was told that they were going to have to endure a survival program that was known as an anything goes scroll battle. With a smirk, Anko then pulled a pair scrolls out from inside of her coat, telling them that half of them were going to receive a Heaven scroll. The other half were receiving an Earth scroll.

Then, she stated that half of the teams would be failing.

Oh, this is going to be so _fun._

They were told that they had five days to get the scroll they needed and to make it to the tower. Anko went on to explain the rules, telling them the various reasons why they could be kicked out of the exams. She informed them that they were allowed to pick their entrance and that they were going to have to enter the forest by using it. She also told them not to die before telling them that they needed to sign those forms.

Apparently, she was going to exchange three forms for one of the scrolls.

Then she dismissed them after telling them not to die once again.

The three members of Team One made their way to their own area as they read over their forms, each member sighing softly before quite literally signing their lives away to the sadistic woman.

"If we die, Ryosuke-sensei better kick her ass for us. Our deaths better not go unavenged." Yuuki huffed before smirking when the other two members of his team immediately agreed with him despite their earlier attempts at calming his nerves.

It seemed as though his teammates had not completely lost their senses after all.

It was a moment later that they were called to exchange the papers for the scrolls and as they handed over the forms, they were immediately given a Heaven scroll. A quick discussion amongst the three of them had them choosing Yuuki as the person to hold onto the scroll while they were in the forest. Apparently, the thought was that Yuuki was the least obvious person to be carrying the scroll and that everyone who might stumble across them in the forest was more likely to go after Yuna or Akio. It had something to do with Yuna being perceived as the weakest member of the their team due to the fact that she was a girl and Akio being the most obvious choice due to the fact that he was the team's leader.

Yuuki was apparently the least likely choice and thus, was the safest one to guard their scroll.

Go figure.

They were told that they needed to line up and immediately they moved to pick gate number three. They stood there in silence, watching as the chunin who guarded their gate unlocked it. Once Anko announced the start of the second part of the exams, they were off, taking to the trees immediately as they quickly jumped from branch to branch. Yuuki quickly switched his chakra to sensory mode, eyes narrowing as they made their way deep into the forest and he caught a very weak chakra signature directly below them. His gaze shot towards Akio and Yuna, quickly signaling to them with a hand gesture for them to stop. His gaze lowered as he crouched down carefully on the branch of the tree they stood on, blue eyes glistening in the darkness as he watched three shinobi from the waterfall village simply stand around, apparently looking for something.

They were sitting ducks.

He'd shoot his teammates a questioning glance, smirking when they both nodded in agreement.

He quickly formed the signs he needed to activate his jutsu, allowing his chakra to flare up before he grinned darkly.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique" He hissed under his breath, watching as the leaves from the trees around them began to move, that dark smile growing as the eyes of his targets widened, mentally counting down the seconds before their screams filled the once silent air from the forest as they were subjected to their worst nightmares.

"Yuna, go."

With a nod, their medic jumped down, hitting them each in the back of their necks with her chakra scalpel. She waited until they each hit the ground before she began digging through each of their items, frowning when she pulled out another heaven scroll. She had been about to return the scroll to them before hesitating, eying the scroll for a moment as she bit down on her bottom lip. She fixed the unconscious shinobi with an apologetic look before she slipped the second Heaven scroll into her pack as she quickly rejoined her teammates from their perch in the trees.

It was better to be safe than sorry.

They continued on for a few hours, moving deep into the woods before they somehow managed to run into another team from the leaf that they did not recognize. Akio was able to knock two of them unconscious on his own while Yuuki leered dangerously at the final conscious member of their team while Yuna stayed in the trees, keeping an eye out for any potential incoming threats.

"Let us see your scroll. We just want to see what kind you have is all. If you don't humor us we're going to have to knock you unconscious and then we're going to be mad if it's the same one we have." That was enough to make the trembling boy show them his scroll, causing him to sigh as it was revealed to be another Heaven scroll before he knocked the boy out with a groan.

"Another Heaven. I have a feeling finding the Earth is going to be a pain in the ass."

* * *

"What should we do? Should we set up camp or try finding one of the others?" Yuna asked quietly as the three of them finally stopped again, deep in the forest and for a moment all was silent as they tried to decide what the right thing to do was.

"We should go and find them. We told Kakashi sensei that we were going to keep an eye on them for him and that we'd help them if they needed it. We shouldn't go back on our word." Akio spoke softly, icy blues narrowing in thought as Yuuki agreed.

"Yeah, I guess that's the right thing to do. Besides, as long as they have the same scroll as us, we should be safe. Even if they do have the Earth scroll, we have an extra Heaven scroll we can give to them thanks to Yuna's quick thinking."

It was better if they worked as a team.

"Yuuki..can you sense their chakra signatures anywhere?"

He closed his eyes and began to scan the area around them, looking for their chakra signatures before nodding a few moments later. "They're about a half of a kilometer away, northwest." All three of them nodded before moving off in that direction. Once they arrived, Yuuki's eyes widened immediately when he saw Sakura and Sasuke standing off against the ninja they all agreed to avoid.

Shit.

Where was Naruto?!

He watched as Sasuke and Sakura seemed frozen in place by something. His eyes narrowed slightly as he wondered if they were being subjected to a genjutsu. Then, he was able to sense the thirst for blood that seemed to radiate off of the woman, something that made his blood run cold, the boy swallowing roughly as his mind registered what he was sensing.

Killing intent.

The grass ninja was going to kill them if they didn't do anything.

"What do we do? That woman is even more psychotic than the proctor is. I don't know how much help we can possibly be. She has them frozen just from releasing killing intent. Whoever she is, she's no ordinary genin. What were they thinking? Letting her in these exams?" Yuuki frowned lightly, eyes never leaving the form of the woman beneath while Yuna bit down on her lip, wide eyes focused on Sasuke and Sakura.

"That being said, we can't leave them there. She'll kill them if we do. Yuna...get them out of here. Akio...I'm going to try and trap her in a genjutsu. You'll be my backup in case it doesn't work, alright?" The black-haired male nodded immediately and with a sigh, he began forming signs once again.

"Cover your ears you two." When they did as he asked, he delivered a swift punch to the tree, causing birds to fly away crying and he used their cries as a catalyst to activate his genjutsu.

"Heavenly Illusion: Serenade of Repetition" With his genjutsu activated, he immediately switched his chakra to sensory mode, checking to make sure the woman had fallen under his genjutsu that would cause her to relive the last five minutes or so, hopefully without realizing it and when he sensed the chakra disruption within the woman, he quickly made a gesture towards Yuna.

"Now!" The three of them rushed over to where the genin stood, Yuna pouring her own chakra into them to help them shake off the effects of the killing intent. When they looked up at her with a bewildered gaze she simply smiled warmly.

"We've come to help. Yuuki put that witch under a genjutsu, but, we're not sure how much longer it will last. We need to move quickly. Come on." She helped Sakura up and Sasuke managed to shakily stand on his own, Yuuki smiling weakly at the two of them before a voice made them freeze where they stood.

"Well, well isn't this touching. The concerned older shinobi coming to help the younger genin out of a dangerous situation. It's almost enough to warm my heart. But you see, I cannot let you get away. They have something that I want and we are going to fight to the death over it." The information he heard was enough to make his eyes widen as his gaze shot towards the younger genin in disbelief,

"What the hell did you take from this woman?!"

"N-Nothing! S-She wants our Heaven Scroll." Sakura managed to whimper out, causing each of the older shinobi looked at each other before nodding simultaneously. Yuna quickly reached into her pouch, holding up the Heaven scroll before throwing it towards the grass ninja, who caught their scroll with an amused look in those eyes.

"Take ours! You can have it if it means you will leave us alone!" They watched as she observed the scroll for a moment before she lit it on fire with her hands.

"What a sweet gesture...but I'm afraid that I can't take you up on it."

Shit.

Akio quickly formed hand signs, taking a deep breath. Those icy eyes narrowed before he finally exhaled quickly, a burst of scorching flames escaping his mouth as he set the plants and the middle of the field that they were standing on on fire, a large barrier of burning flame separting them from the bloodthirsty grass shinobi who watched the Koyabashi heir with a look of hunger in those disgusting eyes.

That wasn't a good sign at all, unfortunately, he wasn't able to focus on the thought as Akio ran past him, shoving him back roughly as he all but roared for them to focus.

"Grab them and go, now!"

They couldn't afford to waste any time.

Akio quickly grabbed Sasuke before flickering away, Yuna, Sakura, and Yuuki quickly following behind him. They missed the way the female's eyes narrowed darkly before a sinister chuckle left her lips.

_"Oh, my dear Akira. I wonder what you would say if you could see your little nephew now~. Standing his ground against him. I can't wait to see the look on your face when I tell you all about this later~_ "

* * *

The small group of leaf ninja found themselves resting on a tree a good distance away from where they had been only moments before. Yuna dutifully tended to both Sakura and Sasuke, making sure they were not injured and looking them over carefully. Yuuki leaned back against the three he rested on while keeping his chakra alert, the sensor actively seeking out any foreign chakra signatures that might be heading in their direction. Akio was also on high alert, icy blues keeping guard for any slight disturbance until they heard the shaky words that came from Sakura as she finally spoke to them.

"T-Thank you guys. I-If you h-hadn't stepped in. Who knows what might have h-happened." She was still a mess, but that was to be expected.

Yuuki merely smiled weakly at her in response.

"Of course Sakura. We weren't just going to leave-" He was cut off when he sensed a massive flare in chakra, quickly heading in their direction. He immediately jumped up as he saw a giant snake moving towards him at an unbelievable speed. "EVERYONE, WE NEED TO MOVE NOW!"

All of them quickly jumped onto separate branches, Yuuki's eyes widening as he saw the snake lunge for Sasuke before sighing in relief as Sasuke managed to kill it with shuriken. His gaze narrowed as he looked at the snake, darkening as he saw the snake's skin beginning to crack. He had to actively fight the urge to throw up when he saw the woman emerge from the body of the deceased snake, his stomach churning as he actively fought to keep his breakfast down.

That was easily the most disgusting thing he had ever seen.

He watched in horror as the woman's body manipulated itself, looking like something straight out of a horror story as she wound herself around the tree as she made her way up to Sasuke. Yuuki immediately threw a kunai while Akio threw shuriken, both of them sighing in relief when they managed to embed themselves in her back. They shared a smirk with each other when she cried out in pain before their eyes widened as more weapons came flying at her, embedding themselves into the trunk above her head.

Oh god, please let it be Haku or Gaara and his siblings.

As he heard the words leaving the person's mouth his gaze lifted, his hopes being ruined when he saw that it was only Naruto. He watched as Naruto taunted the woman before Sasuke yelled at him to run away, something that caused Naruto to punch Sasuke. The blonde told him that she would never let them escape, something that made her chuckle before admitting that Naruto was right.

She was going to hunt them down and kill them.

"All but two. I will kill everyone else~" She grinned sadistically before summoning another giant snake, Yuuki's eyes widening as the snake charged at Naruto, ready to attack, slamming him back into a bunch of trees before Naruto moved to attack the snake, punching it repeatedly until the snake managed to send him flying into trees and as the snake moved to attack Sasuke, Akio quickly moved along with Yuuki, throwing weapons and stabbing the snake through the top of the mouth just in time for Naruto to jump in front of the snake, stopping it from hurting Sasuke.

Naruto then called Sasuke a scaredy-cat in true Naruto fashion.

They watched in horror as the woman lifted up Naruto by her tongue eyes widening as Yuuki jumped in, attempting to get the woman to release the blonde.

" _Let him go, you crazy bitch!_ "

Yuuki jumped onto the woman's back, kunai pressing firmly against her throat as he hissed tiredly in her ear.

"Let him go or so help me I'll slit your throat here and now." He watched as the woman seemed unbothered by the threat, only drawing Naruto closer to her before making a sign. The action was enough to convince Yuna to jump in, the bluenette scared at what she was about to do the the hyperactive blonde. She had her chakra scalpels at the ready before quickly dropping them, eyes widening as Yuuki was knocked off of the woman and as a result was slammed into her stomach, causing both of them to fly back into a tree as Yuna used her body to shield her teammate, her body taking the force of the impact as they were both slammed into the tree, both quickly falling unconscious due to the force of the impact.

Akio watched as the ninja made a sign of some sort before shoving her hand onto Naruto's stomach, an action that clearly caused the blonde a lot of pain before he too passed out from her actions, leaving Akio, Sasuke, and Sakura as the only conscious ninja at the moment, something that left his mind racing as he tried to figure out just what the three of them were going to do.

This was not good.

As she threw Naruto away like a piece of trash, he watched as Sakura quickly threw a kunai, pinning his jacket to the tree and holding him in place, while Sasuke remained frozen, causing Akio to swallow roughly before he turned his gaze to Sakura.

She was the only one that was both still conscious and had it together enough to be of any use to him at that moment.

"Listen to me, Sakura." Once he had her attention, his features became stern as he spoke.

"Go to Yuna and Yuuki and try waking them up. I want you three to take Naruto, Sasuke, and run. I'll hold this woman off for as long as I can. Try and get help. If you can't find anyone, then please just hide. I'll try to buy you guys as much time as I can." Tears filled the pinkette's eyes as she looked to Akio before turning her gaze to Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Naruto and Akio are nothing like you! Naruto's a clutz and gets in the way! Yuuki says that Akio is stubborn, and hard-headed and that may be true, but at least they're both not cowards! Isn't that right?!"

They watched as her words impacted Sasuke finally managing to shake him from his stupor. He activated his Sharingan, essentially over whatever it was that was causing him to freeze up.

"Let's do this together, Akio. We can take her down faster that way." Akio simply nodded as that icy gaze narrowed darkly, watching as she got rid of her summoning. Sasuke drew a kunai and Akio grabbed his preferred Shuriken before both of them charged at her, attacking her at once. Sasuke attacked her from the front while Akio focused on attacking her from behind, each boy unable to understand how she was able to fend both of them off at the same time.

Something wasn't adding up.

He fell back as the woman began moving with an almost impossible amount of speed, eyes straining as he found that he couldn't see her. He decided that the best thing for him to do was to let Sasuke be the one to track her and when she attacked the two of them again, they both sent a wave of powerful fire at her, watching as she somehow dodged it. He quickly jumpied out of the way as she came up and out of the inside of the tree branch. He jumped out of the way once again when she attacked them again, watching as Sasuke tackled her down before slamming her headfirst down onto a branch, Akio body flickering down to join them icy blue eyes watching just in case she managed to survive the impact.

It turned out to be a mud clone.

A barrage of kunai came flying at the both of them, Akio jumping up before body flickering out of sight while Sasuke jumped down only to be attacked by the woman. As Sasuke was hit over and over again, Akio reappeared behind her, attacking the woman and kicking her down before body flickering away to the next branch over as Sasuke lept up and sent her flying, throwing various weapons and pulling wires to have them securing her to the tree trunk, smirking as he set the witch on fire.

It was done.

At least, those were his thoughts before the woman managed to free herself and managed to cast a paralysis jutsu on them, rendering them both immobile. She spoke once again, though her voice slowly became a blend of two. His face lost all of it's color when he found that recognized that second voice.

He had grown up with that voice around his uncle's house when he was younger.

It was _Orochimaru._

_They were screwed._

* * *

**(10 years prior)**

* * *

"Orochimaru whatever it was that you came here for, now is not a good time. Akio is ready for bed and I don't think it's-" The older man was stopped as a young Akio came running out of his room, those icy blues looking up at the man he saw as a second father with excitement as he reached up to be held, giggling in delight as the older man complied to his request, the black haired-man smirking at the only other adult in the house as the child cuddled the man that held him.

"Stop giving me that smug look or I'll have you be the one that puts him to bed. He seems to listen to you better anyway, I don't know why I try." Akira grumbled darkly, brushing a long strand of wavy brown hair, gold eyes narrowed in irritation towards Orochimaru who simply gave a low laugh in return.

"Now, Now, none of that my Akira. Besides, is it not a good thing that I practice these sorts of things with our little Akio? He is practically your son after all. What if we decide that we want children of our own someday?" A thin brown brow rose as gold eyes narrowed, an uncharacteristic coldness shining through in those eyes as the pretty man clenched his jaw.

"Sorry to break it to you, but if you want children, then you're messing around with the wrong person then, Orochimaru. I'm clearly not a woman. I don't have the.." He looked at Akio's innocent blu eyes before sighing softly, deciding to stop before he scarred his poor nephew for the remainder of his life. "

You know what, we're not talking about this here or now. Come Akio, it's time for bed. He will even tell you a story since he's so eager to spend time with you, aren't you, Orochimaru?"

"I suppose I have no choice when you put it that way."

"I'm glad you're making this easy on yourself."

"Yaaaay! Uncle Orochi's gonna tell me a story! I wanna hear the one about the talking snakes again!"

"Whatever your heart desires, little one."

* * *

**(Present Day)**

* * *

Those icy eyes narrowed in absolute hatred as he stared at the man who had stolen the only family he had left away from him. His blood began to boil, becoming hot in his veins while his body began to tremble in rage. He watched the bastard interact with Sasuke before making a sign and elongating his neck which shot towards Sasuke. It was then that Akio's eyes widened as he watched the bastard sink his fangs into Sasuke's neck before slowly pulling away, icy eyes narrowing as the man's head finally turned to look at him.

"As much as I would like to leave my mark on you as well, little Akio."

His name was said so lightly, with such mockery that it was enough to make him see red.

" _My_ Akira has asked me not to touch or harm you in any way. He still loves you so dearly after all of this time. Can you believe that he was willing to sacrifice what little pride, dignity, and honor he had left to convince me to leave you alone?"

"You act as though I should be grateful. What need do I have to hear about a request made from someone who betrayed his village just to be with a _monster_? Never say _his_ name again, as far as I am concerned the man who shares my blood died the day he chose to leave the village for _you_. "

"His heart would just shatter to hear you speak that way about him after everything he's done to keep you safe from me. I'll have to tell him that you send your regards, he always makes the most beautiful expressions whenever I say your name, it's such a treat. You should consider yourself lucky Akio. If it had been anyone else, my promise would have been broken and you would have a mark to match Sasuke's. You are a talented young man and it almost hurts to let you slip through my fingers. You should be very grateful towards your uncle, he saved you today." He slowly began to sink into the wood as Sasuke collapsed from the pain.

"Of course, if you were to seek me out on your own along with Sasuke, I could give you a very different kind of gift, the gift of knowledge. I do hope you decide to come and look for me, Little Akio. I'm sure I have all of the answers to the questions you are dying to ask your uncle. Goodbye, for now, Sasuke, Akio." With that said he disappeared completely, leaving Sakura and him as the only conscious ones, Sakura being beside herself with tears which made Akio sigh as he realized that he was going to have to be the one to take charge.

"Sakura, I need you to listen to me. We need to get everyone down and set up camp. I want you to get Yuna and Yuuki, I'm going to get Naruto down, okay?" She nodded tearfully before moving to do as he asked. He moved to get Naruto down from the tree, cursing under his breath as he looked at all four of the unconscious genin. He gently carried them towards a small shelter made from the roots of the giant tree a short distance away from where they stood.

"Sakura, you and I are going to have to sleep in shifts. You sleep first. I'll wake you up in a few hours or if Yuna and Yuuki wake up. They shouldn't be out for too much longer since they didn't get hurt that badly. Once Yuna wakes up, things will be better." He was going to talk so much shit to Yuuki's boyfriend when they got to the tower, though.

'I'll kill anyone who tries to kill you.'

_Yeah, right._

* * *

As Sakura fell into an uneasy sleep, he kept watch, icy eyes peering out into the darkness from their shelter amongst the roots. He watched the forest through the stillness of the night before some quiet rustling captured his attention. His sharp eyes turned to scan his surroundings, before upon his teammates only to find that Yuuki was finally waking up. Midnight blues slowly opened to meet Akio's icy ones, a small groan leaving him as his hands fell to hold his sensitive stomach.

"Mmm...what happened? Is everyone okay? Last thing I remember, that creepy woman was sending me flying into Yuna."

"To start, that woman, wasn't a woman. It was Orochimaru in disguise, that's why we had so much trouble fighting her. Secondly, he did this weird seal thing on Naruto which knocked him out. Then he bit Sasuke and gave him this mark which caused him a lot of pain before also knocking him out. Yuna is still unconscious so, for now, it's just the two of us. To top it off both of our teams still need to find the Earth Scroll."

"Shit."

"I don't know how we're going to do it. The only thing I could think of is if I go and find one for us myself. But right now we need all of the help we can get-"

"Akio, if you want to go, then go, I'm fine watching over things. I can even set a genjutsu to keep our location hidden so we'll be extra safe."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Very well, leave it to me then. I'll find us an Earth Scroll and come right back. I'll strike while most teams are asleep and with any luck, I'll be back the first thing in the morning. You're in charge while I'm gone, Yuuki. Keep watch while I'm gone and keep everyone safe in my absence." With that said he disappeared, leaving Yuuki to weave his illusion. He made the tree look like every other tree before resuming his guard duty, blues never once leaving the darkness of the forest. He kept watch until the early hours of the morning, his gaze only shifting when he heard Sakura begin to stir, he watched wordlessly as she finally woke up, the girl blinking in surprise when she saw just who was keeping watch.

"Y-Yuuki? You're awake? W-Where's Akio?" She asked softly as she looked around, mint eyes widening when she did not see the other boy anywhere, something that made Yuuki shake his head softly.

"He's not here, Sakura. He decided that it would be best for him to go off on his own to try and find an Earth Scroll for us." He spoke softly, watching as her eyes widened and as she made to protest, he chuckled softly.

"My, My Sakura. Are you saying that you don't have faith in my ability to keep us safe? I'll have you know that I'm feeling absolutely fine and I still have plenty of chakra left. I've also put up a genjutsu in case anyone tries coming after us, so all we have to do is wait around until he comes back. Remember that I've been on a team with him for two years and I have faith in Akio so you should too. He's the strongest one on our team next to Ryosuke-sensei, so try and have faith in him too, alright?"

That was all they could do.

It was another hour before anyone else woke up, a softly groaning Yuna being the next one to wake up with a wince as she sat up, telling them that she had probably taken the most of the damage when Orochimaru had sent them flying into a tree.

"Yuna are you okay?" Sakura immediately moved over to her side only to be waved off as the girl gave her a sheepish smile.

"Yes. I think I'm just sore. Nothing's broken or damaged from what I can tell. Just give me some time to stretch and I should be fine." Her blue gaze drifted around, a concerned frown crossing her lips when she saw the state that Sasuke and Naruto were in.

"What happened to them after that woman took us down?" She asked softly with a wide-eyed gaze, listening as they explained just what had happened, face losing it's color once it was explained that the person that they had been fighting was none other than Orochimaru. When she was told that he had done some kind of seal on Naruto before leaving a mark on Sasuke, while telling Akio that he might have shared Sasuke's fate if not for Akira, Yuna sighed softly in distress as she looked over the boys, something that made Sakura pause before she finally worked up the courage to ask them the question that had been bothering her.

"Um, I didn't want to ask Akio because he was really mad when that name was brought up but who is Akira?" She asked shyly, looking at the two members of Team One as they looked at each other before Yuuki sighed softly, deciding to be the one to answer her.

Hopefully, Akio wouldn't be upset with him.

"Akira is Akio's only remaining family. His mother and father both died when he was very young, so Akira was the one who took him in and raised him since he was the only living relative of Akio's left. From what Akio and others that knew him have told us, he was a very funny and kind man, a bit snarky as well, along with being very pretty. He had tan skin and long wavy brown hair and gold eyes. Needless to say, he was very popular around the village. A lot of people liked and admired him. Including Orochimaru, though it's very likely that he only admired him because he was pretty and strong, not because he actually had any sort of feelings for him."

That was the thing that made Akira's betrayal of the village so strange.

"At any rate, I don't think we'll ever find out the true reason why he left the village. Even Akio doesn't know why he left with Orochimaru other than the fact that he apparently fell in love with him for some god awful reason." Yuuki drawled before pausing as he heard shuffling from inside of the bushes across from their makeshift shelter. A moment later, a confused looking Akio stepped out of the bushes, looking around, an action that immediately made his eyes narrow before widening as Sakura beamed upon seeing him, getting up and running out of their hiding spot.

"Sakura, No! That's not-"

"Akio! Oh, thank god! I was getting worried, you had been gone for so long! Did you- W-what are you doing?" She watched with widened eyes as the false Akio simply smirked before taking out a kunai and advancing on her, only to dodge as Yuuki sent shuriken flying his way. He watched as the imposter smirked before transforming to reveal the sound ninja that was covered in bandages, his companions revealing themselves as well.

"Yuna. We're going to need your help here. I'm sorry but I don't think it can be avoided." He dispelled the genjutsu as the medic joined them, eyes narrowed as they told them they wanted to fight Sasuke. When Sakura told him about Orochimaru marking him, they then stated that it could not be helped, that they were going kill to kill them before killing Sasuke. They lept into the air, the three ninjas bracing themselves before someone else barged in, kicking all three of them out of the air and knocking them back down to the ground. Yuuki watching in disbelief as a ninja dressed in a green jumpsuit with a bowl cut landed confidently next to them.

"I don't know who you are, but thank you." Yuna smiled tiredly at the fellow Konoha ninja while Sakura asked why he was here, only to be told that he would always come running when Sakura was in trouble, even going as far as to say that he'd gladly die for her.

Did Sakura get herself a boyfriend or something?

"There won't be any dying here as long as I'm involved. I'm guessing you're good with Taijutsu? Perfect. Yuna uses medical ninjutsu and I use genjutsu. We'll be able to take these punks down easily." He watched as Yuna drew out one of the water scrolls that she used for combat, pouring her chakra into it before throwing it up in the air and sending water scattering all around the ground, the water surrounding them as she glared at the sound ninja.

The bandaged ninja then ran towards them and Lee punched through the ground, lifting up the roots from the tree to use as a shield while Yuna jumped up, sending a chakra laced kick into his side and sending him soaring back into one of his companions as she landed back on the ground.

"That should have managed to bruise some of his ribs at the very least, though they should have been broken by that kick. At any rate, he should be much slower than he was before."

That injury still wasn't enough to make him give up, however, and as he came running at them again, Lee unwrapped the bandages around his arms before moving quickly and kicking him up into the air. He spun him around before moving to slam him back into the ground headfirst, which one of his allies happened to soften using their strange jutsu. He came running at them again to attack Lee, managing to hit him with the sound waves before Yuna jumped forward again, kicking him once again before managing to slash him on his chest with her chakra scalpels. The medic stood protectively in front of Lee with her blue eyes narrowed, gaze looking back to check on Lee only to see that his ears were bleeding and that he had thrown up, she quickly kneeled down by his side, looking him over in an attempt to see what had happened to him while Yuuki swallowed roughly, his stomach churning as his gaze turned to Sakura.

He had no other choice if they wanted to get out of here alive.

"Sakura...It can't be avoided. I'm going to need you to back me up. Otherwise, even with my abilities, I'm afraid this won't last long." He fell silent as the sound ninja explained just what he had done to Lee, smirking darkly as he snickered softly.

"Thanks for letting us know what you did to him. Yuna please heal him quickly." She simply nodded in response to his request, before helping Lee stand and body flickering to where Sasuke and Naruto were sleeping.

Yuuki immediately began forming signs before body flickering away, watching as Sakura threw her weapons at the bandaged ninja only to have them reflected by Zaku's wind jutsu. It not only reflected her weapons but also managed to knock her off balance and into the enemy girl's hold. Yuuki took that moment to strike, appearing behind the bandaged one and surging his chakra into him, locking him into one of his most powerful genjutsu.

His Shades of Paradise illusion.

It was meant to lock them into the deepest part of their greatest fantasy, all the while erasing small bits and pieces of their memory to make them forget what they were doing before, erasing any sense of urgency or even any will to want to fight his illusion.

Hopefully, it would keep him trapped for a nice, long while or he would have to pull out his next secret jutsu, one that he was hoping to save for the next round of the exams.

With the biggest one of their threats taken out of the picture for the time being, he turned his gaze back towards Sakura. He tried to figure out how he was going to help her escape from the situation she was in. He knew that the woman was in the perfect location where she could kill her if he made any moves, eyes narrowing as he watched the pink-haired kunoichi cry. As Zaku moved towards the shelter he called out towards his female teammate.

"Yuna, he's going your way get ready to fight!" He watched in shock as Sakura drew out a kunai before chopping off the part of her hair that the sound woman had been holding her by.

He never thought Sakura was capable of doing something like that.

He watched as Kin attempted to attack Sakura, only for her to use a substitution jutsu, repeating the process one more time before she took four kunai to her arms and legs, jumping down and stabbing Zaku in the hand and biting down on his other arm and as he started punching Sakura on the head he moved quickly, ready to try and help her only to be stopped by the woman.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere. If you want to help her you're going to have to go through-"

"Fire style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" She immediately jumped back to avoid the fire, Yuuki following suit as the flames came rushing at the both of them. Yuuki sighed in relief as Akio jumped down from the tree branch to join his side. Icy eyes narrowed in rage as he leered at the state that Sakura was in. "You've got a lot of nerve, attacking my team when two of us are down. You even managed to hurt Sakura. Mercy is too good for the likes of you."

He turned his gaze on Sakura only to see that three of their fellow leaf ninja had come out of nowhere to jump in front of her, protecting her from the asshole who had been punching her. "Are they with you Akio?"

"No. But someone else is. They should be here very soon as a matter of fact."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

"You'll see. Let's take this girl down. Then we'll focus on the other two." Akio turned his gaze onto the girl who backed away from them, glaring only for her body to tense up as the blonde girl in front of Sakura fell unconscious. It was revealed that she used a mind transfer technique to take over the girl's body and she threatened to kill her if the spiky-haired boy didn't give up, something that made him smirk as he simply ran past them, running straight at him and Akio.

"Let's go Akio! He wants the bandaged guy! We can't let him break my genjutsu or we'll be right back where we-"

"Too late for that."

Shit.

Yuuki turned around to see the bandaged guy smirking at him, arm raised and ready to attack him when the air around them suddenly got cooler.

"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors."

Oh, thank god.

* * *

The mirror of ice formed around Yuuki as a means of defense, protecting him from the sound waves as they bounced off of the ice. Haku then appeared in the mirror, senbon drawn and ready to strike as he threw them at the sound ninja, smirking as the enemy deflected his attack before slowly stepping out of the mirror to face the other ninja.

"Are you alright, Yuuki?" That brown gaze seemed to look him over for any wounds before he turned to observe their surroundings, that gentle gaze hardening the moment he did not see the very person he had been worried about since the moment Akio informed him about what happened with Orochimaru. "Where is Yuna? Is she okay?"

"Yuna's in the middle of healing a guy they hurt. She's fine, considering what we've been through. I'm okay too, they haven't managed to hit me yet. Thanks for saving me there by the way. That guy in the bandages has been a real pain in the ass. Don't try fighting him with taijutsu, he has this sound thing that messes with you even if you dodge his attacks. I had him under a genjutsu, but he somehow managed to break it without me noticing."

"Understood."

"Did you come alone?"

"I did, my teammates seemed to believe that this was a trap even though Akio told them that your team has both of the scrolls. They were unwilling to come, so I gave them our scrolls and came on my own. I think things will be just fine though. It seems as though you have more allies than you thought." Yuuki had been about to ask what he was talking about when two more ninjas appeared, looking for someone named Lee.

"If you mean the boy in the green jumpsuit with the bowl cut, he's being treated by our medic. You can see him if you'd like but we'd appreciate the help in getting rid of these guys." The long-haired boy activated his eyes as a response to his request, threatening them to stand down before smirking, saying that there was no need for them to get involved.

Sasuke was awake.

A horrible purple chakra surrounded Sasuke, something that made Yuuki's skin crawl as he stared at Sasuke with a mix of horror and confusion etched onto his face. He watched as he called out to Sakura, asking who had beat her up. The black mark that Orochimaru had given him had spread all over him and his Sharingan was activated before he stated that he felt stronger than ever.

Oh, this was so not good.

They watched as the idiot with the spiky hair told Sasuke that he was the one who hurt her, watching as Ino released the girl's body before Akio slowly frowned.

"Haku, Yuuki...we're going to get caught in the crossfire here. We need to get out of the way, whatever Orochimaru did to him, that's not Sasuke right now." All three of them looked at each other before body flickering away, standing in front of Naruto just in time for Yuna and Rock Lee to both come out of the shelter.

"What is going on?! I turned my back for one moment to finish treating Lee and Sasuke was gone!"

"Tsukino-San...he's..." Her gaze turned to Rock Lee before glancing in the direction he was staring in, eyes widening as she saw the dark chakra and the way that the curse mark had spread all over his body.

"Oh no."

* * *

They watched as Sasuke swept the floor with the boy from the Sound Village all the while the bandaged one was urging him to run away. The battle ended with Sasuke managing to break both of his arms before turning to the bandaged ninja, telling him that he was the only one left as he started making his way towards him, ready to hurt the boy. It was at that moment that Haku stepped forward, summoning his ice mirrors to form a protective barrier around the remaining sound ninja, something that made Sasuke pause for a moment, then a dark laugh filled the air.

"Put down the mirrors. I need to teach him a lesson."

"The lesson was already learned, Sasuke-kun. Now, you are merely thirsting to spill blood. While they are in the wrong, I will not allow you to spill more blood than you have already spilled, Sasuke-kun."

"Would you feel the same way if Yuna had been the one hurt?"

"Yes. The one that hurt Sakura-san has been dealt with, there is no need to cause any more damage. If you insist on trying, then I will be forced to do whatever it takes to stop you, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke simply sneered at Haku as he slowly turned to the mirrors, ready to try and shatter them before Sakura ran forward, hugging him while crying and begging for him to stop. That seemed to be enough to bring Sasuke back to his senses, causing the curse mark to fade as he slowly started to come back to them. Haku then turned to the bandaged ninja, a cold look in his eyes as he allowed his mirrors to fall away.

"Leave your scroll and get out of here. You have caused enough trouble here."

"Be grateful we're letting you go after all of the damage you did." Yuuki glared, watching as they left their Earth Scroll on the floor before the bandaged guy picked up both of his teammates and left them. Once they were finally safe, he sighed softly before smiling weakly at Haku. "Thank you for coming to help us. You saved us from a lot of trouble."

"Think nothing of it. Once Akio told me what happened to you six, especially with your run-in with Orochimaru, and having to fight him, I knew I had to come and make sure everyone was okay. If you'll excuse me." He watched as Haku smiled politely before making his way over to Yuna, obviously wanting to make sure that she was okay before he left them, something that caused Yuuki to sigh softly as his hand ran through his hair, mind racing as his thoughts raced.

Both of their teams finally had the scrolls that they needed in order to pass their exams.

All that was left was to wait for Naruto to wake up so they could leave to find the tower.

Then they would be done with this shit.

Thank god.

* * *

Chapter Eight is done!  
  
  


Not much to say about this one other than there was a good look into Akio, who up until this point has been left mostly as a background character. I promise you there's a good reason for it and the reason is simply that he has a lot to do with both Sasuke and Orochimaru. If you go back and re-read the second chapter of my story, he avoids looking at Sasuke from the very beginning while Yuuki seems to deduce that there is a story there.

There is!

  
  
Unfortunately, since their connection is kind of spoiler for at least two of my stories (Requiem of a Snow-covered world) and Akio's actual story, I can't give you guys too much information about Akio, at least not here. I'm sorry and I hope you guys understand! Some bits of it will slowly be revealed in this story, while the more important bits will be revealed on those other stories when the time comes.

  
  
I'm also sorry about the lack of Gaara in this chapter lol, hopefully, this chapter and the coming chapters will make up for it.

Anyways, thank you guys so much for continuing to read this story, and thank you so much for the comments!

It means the world that you guys take the time to comment on my story! 

Thank you so much again,

Until next time!

~ Xay


	9. Chapter Nine: Hiden Technique: Art Of Life

Much to their great surprise, Naruto woke up screaming.

It was so sudden, that it caused all of Team One to turn around with a look of concern, worried that someone might be attacking him. The three of them fell silent after a moment, before quickly becoming annoyed as they found the two male members of Ino's team poking him repeatedly with a stick as he crawled around on the ground. When he came to realize where he was and who he was with, Naruto wasted no time asking about what happened to Orochimaru before screaming again the moment he looked at Sakura and saw what remained of her hair, asking what had happened to it. The older ninja shared a look, unsure about whether or not they should tell him what happened before Sakura jumped in as she made up an excuse. The team of three quietly listening to her explanation before quickly nodding as Naruto turned to them to verify her story, a look of exasperation crossing their faces the moment his back was turned again.

They loved these three, but this was getting tiring.

Then Naruto asked why everyone was here, to which, Sakura explained that they had all helped her keep them safe.

Team One quietly watched as the genin interacted with one another before finally turning to each other once again to speak about their next course of action now that they knew that everyone was okay. For a moment, they were silent before finally, Yuuki took the initiative, deciding to voice what he believed to be the best decision for their team to take now that they had their scrolls and everyone seemed to be fine for the most part.

"I think that they'll be safe now. Our best course of action would be to separate from them and go our own way. We need to make our way to the tower because I don't think I have it in me to fight Orochimaru again if we happen to run into him. I also don't want to have another run-in with those sound ninja, because I know it won't end well for any of us if we see them again. I know that we promised to look out for those three, but I think we've done more than our share. I can't handle much more of this and it looks like you guys are at your limit as well." Yuuki muttered quietly, turning his gaze to Yuna and Akio who both seemed to contemplate his words before he turned to Haku, who simply smiled.

"If I am to advance any further in these exams, then I'll need to separate from you all so I can find my teammates. I am glad that you are all safe and that I could protect you, even if my role here was very small. If I may offer my own opinion, I agree with Yuuki-san. You three should head to the tower quickly before trouble finds you again. Good luck you three and whatever you decide to do, please stay safe." With that said, Haku smiled one last time before quickly disappearing amongst the trees, leaving all three of them standing alone once again.

"So what do you guys think?"

"I would like to look them over one more time to make sure they don't need any additional healing. After that, I suppose it would be safe to leave them. The worst of the danger does seem to have gone away at this point." Yuna decided, a small frown crossing her features as she watched Rock Lee's teammates move to claim him.

"At least I know that he will be okay. I know I did a good job helping him with the injury that asshole from the sound village gave him, but that being said, I hope he has the sense to go and see a more experienced healer when he reaches the tower, just to be absolutely sure that I didn't miss anything serious that can threaten his health or his ability to continue on with the exams." Yuna mused softly before shaking her head and sighing as she approached the group of genin, smiling gently at Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke as they looked up at her.

"How are you two feeling? Do you need me to take a look at anything? Oh and Sakura let me heal you. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help during your fight with the sound."

"N-No. Don't apologize. You were helping Lee, Yuna that was more than enough." Yuna smiled upon hearing her word before her hands reached towards Sakura's face, gently cupping her cheeks within her hands as she allowed her chakra to flow into the girl's wounds, stopping the flow of blood before closing up the wounds entirely.

"There we go Sakura. I wish there was something I could do to help with your hair, unfortunately, hair is not my forte so to speak. That's why I usually just throw it up in a bun." She mused with a weak smile, only for Ino to speak up, offering her services to her former friend and as Sakura moved over to have her fix her hair, Yuna turned her attention to Sasuke and Naruto, gifting them both a soft smile as she quickly looked them over.

"Just so you both know. Yuuki seems to want to move on ahead and while Akio hasn't said anything, I know he's probably anxious to move on as well. While I'd like to stay and help you three further, Akio and Yuuki are my first priority. So, I am sorry, but I have no choice but to go on ahead with them. I've healed Sakura, so I am not worried about her, but if either one of you needs or wants me to heal anything, you need to not be stubborn and let me know now. This is probably going to be the last time I will be able to help you until after you reach the tower."

Much to her disappointment, her words were greeted only with silence.

With a sigh, she simply shook her head in response before gifting them a tired smile.

"Very well then. Please be careful you two. Goodbye and good luck to all of you. Please let Sakura know I said goodbye."

With those final words, she made her way back to her own team. She nodded quietly at the two of them, watching as Yuuki smirked.

All three of them body flickered out of there, taking to the trees once more as they finally made their way to the tower in the center of the woods. It took the team of three the better part of two hours before they finally entered the building, Yuuki sighing in relief as he brought out the two scrolls and opened them as per the instructions, blinking in surprise when none other than Ryosuke-sensei stood there grinning down at the three of them when the smoke cleared from the air.

"A day and a half. Not bad you three. I was hoping that you might be one of the first teams to get here but a day and a half still isn't bad." He mused, golden eyes sparkling brightly as he grinned down at them, his brow rising when he noticed the looks the three of them shared with one another. "Why are you looking at each other like that? Did something happen?"

"That's putting it mildly."

* * *

When they told him what happened to them during their time in the woods, Ryosuke stood there in complete silence. It was clear that the cheerful jonin was completely stunned by the story he had just been told, that gold gaze never once leaving his three students before he finally moved, doing the one thing he had never done before. His strong arms wrapped around each and every single one of them as he hugged them all tightly, the older man holding them close to him before he finally spoke moments later.

"I am so happy that you three made it back to me alive. Are you all okay? You look fine, but you can never be sure. Oh, I am so glad that you are all alive. I would have murdered Anko if any of you died because of this stupid exam." Those gold eyes darkened at the thought before Ryosuke sighed, falling silent once again as his gaze met every one of theirs, looking them over for any sign of injuries or mental distress before his gaze finally fell to Akio, whose icy gaze was glaring at a tile as if it had done something to personally offend him.

"Akio..the next question I'm going to ask, don't take it personally because I have to be absolutely sure, but are you sure that it truly was Orochimaru?" That was enough for that icy gaze to turn his glare onto him, blues narrowing slightly before he spoke to his sensei.

"That bastard in the forest knew me personally. If that wasn't enough to convince me, he went on to talk about Akira and how he was doing. He was able to summon snakes. His body moved like a snake. He left a mark on Sasuke's neck after he sank his fangs into it. If that bastard wasn't Orochimaru, then who the hell was he?!" Akio glared darkly at the older man, watching as Ryosuke simply held his hands up defensively before gifting him a tired smile in response to the boy's anger.

"I understand Akio so please calm down. I just have to be absolutely sure before I bring this to the Hokage's attention. At any rate, why don't you three go and find a room and get something to eat? They're housing people here until the end of the five days. Get some rest and relax while you can, you three deserve it."

It was then that he disappeared again in that same cloud of smoke that had been present at the very beginning, causing Yuuki to sigh as his gaze turned back to his teammates.

"Rest or food?" He asked quietly, trying to figure out what they should do first, relieved when both of them decided that resting was the smarter choice for the time being. They made the way up to the rooms, making sure to stop by the washrooms first to get clean and change their clothes beforehand, then they reached the rooms, peeking inside only to find that much to their distress, there were only two small beds present in each room.

This was going to be a problem, wasn't it?

Yuuki stared at the bed for a long moment, annoyance crossing his features before an irritated sigh left him. His hand lifted, running through his damp hair as he turned his attention towards his teammates who appeared to be just as annoyed as he was. All it had taken was one look to know that he was going to be the one needing to find another room for the night and so, he wasted no time as he spoke.

"Yuna and Akio, you two take this room and stay here together. I'll find another room somewhere else." His decision made his teammates look at him in surprise while he simply gave them an annoyed smile.

"How should I say this? These beds are too small for two people and even then, the idea of sharing a bed with Akio makes my skin crawl-" He ignored the sputtering that came from the flustered Koyabashi heir as he continued on with his thought process, gifting Yuna another smile.

"- As for us, Yuna, Haku would murder me in cold blood if I even entertained the idea of the two of us sharing a bed and I'm almost positive Akio doesn't trust me to be alone with you in a room. You could room on your own Yuna, but I think we'd all feel better if you were with one of us, just in case."

Besides, Akio was stronger than he was, he could protect her better if someone tried to do anything funny.

* * *

He swore the universe hated him.

He had spent the last twenty minutes trying to find another place to sleep to no avail. Yuuki looked through a good portion of the neighboring rooms, only to find that a lot of them had either already been taken by people who had no interest in having a roommate. A soft sigh left him as he knocked on yet another door before opening it, eyes widening when his gaze happened to meet the familiar mint green of the one person he hadn't thought he'd run into. For a moment, Yuuki was completely silent before he sighed, resigning himself to his fate as he stepped into the room. He quickly closed the door behind himself before plopping himself down on the bed, knowing all too well that while he was fast, that he wasn't fast enough to outspeed Gaara's sand and there was a very good chance that now Gaara knew he was here, he wasn't going to allow him to leave.

So be it.

"You took longer to get here then I thought you would. I know that you are capable enough, I assumed you'd be one of the first here." Those dark blues remained closed for the longest of moments as he simply laid there on the bed processing Gaara's words. A soft sigh left him as he tried to form a response to him inside of his head, mulling over his words very carefully as his eyes slowly opened, that gaze becoming fixated on a spot on the ceiling of the room as he sighed once again.

"We kind of ran into a lot of trouble on the way to the tower." He finally said quietly, knowing that Gaara was waiting for him to finish explaining himself as he felt the weight of his stare on him yet again.

"I suppose I should start with the whole, 'If it had been just us three then we would have been fine,' thing, but that's not how I really feel. We happened to come across a few teams but all of them had the same scroll we had. Since we weren't having any luck, we decided that we should check in on a few of our fellow ninja who we happen to be close to. We saw them cornered by this creepy grass ninja. So, of course, we had to help them because she looked like she was going to kill them. The grass ninja kicked our asses and turned out to be fucking Orochimaru of all people, you know, one of the legendary Sanin?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Gaara seemed to tense up at the mention of that name, something that made his gaze narrow slightly but, for the sake of his waning sanity, he wisely chose to ignore that strange detail for a moment as he continued on with his story.

"So he says that he's going to kill all of us except for two people. Those two being Akio, who has this long, complicated relationship with Orochimaru because of his uncle who is Orochimaru's..who the hell knows what he is. The second one being Sasuke, you know, the boy with the blue shirt that you kissed me in front of? Him. He managed to knock out me and Yuna, along with Naruto, the blonde boy in the orange before Akio and Sasuke managed to beat him. Then the bastard sends those damn sound ninja to try and kill us again. It was just a mess."

His head fell back against the pillow with a soft thud as he sighed once again, this time his arm moved to cover his eyes as he waited to hear Gaara's response. He was honestly surprised at how well Gaara seemed to be taking the news before the younger boy finally spoke.

"The genin from the Sound village. Orochimaru. I'll be sure to kill them all in the most painful way possible once these exams are over."

Wait, what?

"Gaara! No! Killing isn't the answer to everything! I appreciate your concern, really, but don't worry about it. Sasuke taught them a lesson, I promise you. It's okay." Everything remained silent between the two of them for a long moment, then he felt the bed that he was laying on sink with added weight. With a sigh, he moved the arm that was draped over his eyes, allowing him to meet Gaara's intense glare as the redhead spoke from the space next to him.

"Yuuki. If something were to happen to you-"

"-Things happen to people all of the time, it's a fact of life. You can't always keep me safe or sheltered, just like you can't kill everything that looks at you in a way that you don't like. Look, I don't know what happened to you while I was gone Gaara, I'm sorry that the world made you this way when you were the cutest, sweetest boy ever as a kid. But, if there is one thing you ever do for me, do not kill on my behalf." His hand reached up to cup Gaara's cheek gently, smiling as he saw that gaze widen as those cheeks would darken in that cute blush again, something that made his gaze soften as his smile widened.

"I take it back you still are cute." He cooed teasingly at the younger boy, snickering softly as that gaze tore from him before Yuuki spoke once again.

"But seriously, I meant what I said. I want to hear you promise me that you won't do it for my sake. Promise me." He watched as Gaara sighed softly before that gaze met his once again.

"Fine."

"You really are too cute~ Gaara all I want to do is pick you up and cuddle you all night long~"

"What is wrong with you? Did you hit your head in the forest or something?"

"You wanted me all to yourself, remember? That means enduring all of my habits, quirks, and everything else. You made it very clear to me that you don't want me giving my attention to anyone else, so now you're stuck with me~"

"I'm starting to regret everything."

"Too late, you're stuck with me now~"

* * *

It was three and half days later they were told that they all needed to meet up in the training area, Yuuki joining both Yuna and Akio with a warm smile before they came across Team Seven who were looking a little bit worse for wear, something that made their brows rise as they joined them.

"You three look like absolute shit." He stated bluntly, brow rising as the glares turned to him and the moment he felt their irritation focused on him, his hands immediately rose in self-defense. 

"I am just saying. What the hell happened to you now? I thought we helped you through the worst parts of the second trial. We thought you'd be safe, that's the reason we left you alone in the first place."

"We thought you did too but apparently, that wasn't the case. We were unlucky enough to get into a fight with ninja from the Village Hidden in Rain. Other than that, we're fine." Sasuke grumbled before glaring darkly at Sakura who opened her mouth to say something, an action that did not go unnoticed by the genin on Team One, each of them coming to the same conclusion the minute they saw that look.

Sasuke was hiding something from them.

Yuuki's brow furrowed as he stepped forward, about to say something to the moody Uchiha before they were ordered to stand in line with their teams, with their team captain standing at the very front. It was with a soft sigh that he stepped behind Akio, blues facing straight ahead as he listened to the instructors speak. The minute they were done, the third Hokage stepped forward, explaining the history of the Chunin exams before going on to say why they had them in the first place. Just as he was about to mention the third portion of the Chunin Exams, a very sickly looking man interrupted the Hokage, letting them know that there was going to be a preliminary round before the third part of the exams.

Apparently, there were still too many people left.

God damn it.

The young shinobi listened to him tell them all that they were going to have to fight one another before also stating that the winners of the preliminary exams were going to be the ones who moved on to the third portion of the exams. He also told them all that they were going to be watched by spectators in the last part of the exams. They were then told that their names were going to be drawn randomly and that alone was going to determine who was going to fight against each other. A few moments later, two names appeared on the board and the moment he saw them, he felt his blood pressure spike.

Akio Koyabashi vs Daiki Hideaki.

Oh boy.

* * *

When they found out who was going to be the first person fighting, they had to be ushered up the stairs, the two remaining members of Team One both joining their sensei as they all watched Akio stretch beneath them, that icy gaze never leaving the form of their opponent. He was a cocky looking boy, a smirk painted across those average looking features as he looked Akio over from across the arena and they had found out from an apologetic Haku that he had been a member of his team. Their bodies tensed the moment the boy's smirk turned cruel, those brown eyes sparkling with an ugly look as he spoke to Akio, their blood boiling as the heard the ugly words he spoke to their friend.

"Ahh, I knew I recognized your name. You are the boy whose uncle ran off with Orochimaru right?"

They watched as Akio's gaze simply became even colder, face remaining completely stoic as he showed no visable reaction to the boy's taunting, even as the boy continued to mock him.

"I remember hearing so many great things about your clan growing up. My parents always told me about how they used to produce the best ninja and how your bloodline was once so honorable. You guys used to even guard the Hokage back in the day! How incredible! You'll have to answer me something."

Yuuki's grip tightened on the railing, already knowing where this was going.

"How does it feel? Having all of that thrown away simply because your uncle decided to bend over for someone as disgusting as Orochimaru?"

"I imagine you already must know how it feels. You feel the need to have to mock someone in order to feel as you are worth anything, do you not? I couldn't imagine having to stoop so low, just to feel confident about myself and my abilities. Instead of resorting to pathetic attempts to psyc each other out, why don't we just let our skills speak for themselves, alright?" Akio fixed the boy with a bored look, his lips slowly curling into a smirk upon seeing the angry coloration in Daiki's cheeks. His body slowly got into position as the judge made the call, allowing them to start the battle and as Daiki threw multiple kunai with him, Akio simply scoffed before body flickering behind him, landing a kick dead center in his back sending him flying across the arena, smirking when he saw the other boy landing face-first on the floor.

"What's wrong? You were so confident when you were mocking me before. Talking down on me and my clan because of what my uncle did. Did you forget your so-called skills or are you simply all bark and no bite?" That was enough to coax the boy to jump up, eyes glaring darkly at Akio before he weaved his hand signs.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!" Akio smirked as the boy attempted to use a wind technique against him, allowing his chakra to pool to the bottom of his feet so he could keep his balance against the force of the wind before weaving the signs for his counter attack.

"You're brave to try using wind against me. Let's put an end to this. Fire Style: Fire dragon flame bulletj" He held his breath before exhaling quickly, release stream of flame that resembled a dragon, which quickly split in two, growing in size as they consumed the weak wind technique using it as fuel before they launched towards the boy. Akio watched as the boy managed to jump out of the way, scoffing slightly before making hand signs once again, using the body flicker as he appeared behind him.

"You really should watch your back better, this is the second time I've gotten behind you, if this were a real fight, you'd be dead by now." He spoke coldly, watching as the boy quickly turned around only for him to disappear once again, this time appearing to the side of him.

"You're too slow. I'm starting to get bored." Akio sneered before jumping away as Daiki attempted to punch him, a dangerous look appearing in those icy eyes before he smirked again.

It was time to teach this boy a lesson.

Akio watched as the boy ran at him, kunai drawn and simply waited, hands behind his back forming signs before activating his jutsu as he allowed himself to be stabbed, disappearing as a log took his place.

"Shit! Where the hell are you, coward?! Stop running and face me like a man! Or are you a coward, just like your un-"

"This is the third or fourth time you've brought him up. I'm starting to think someone might have a crush on him. He is pretty, I suppose if you like things like that." Daiki looked all around the arena trying to find just where that voice was coming from.

"Unfortunately, you see, my uncle has really bad taste in men. Even so, he would never go for a pathetic little worm like you." The words were whispered in his ear and the boy spun around to find no one there.

"Turn around." The minute his opponent followed his suggestion he was greeted with a fist to his face, the stoic male smirking slightly as he heard the sickening crack that signaled that he had managed to break his nose before he fell over, knocked out from the pain of having his nose broken.

"Pathetic. He talked so much and he couldn't even back up his talk. I hate that sort of arrogance." Akio scoffed before turning his gaze to the judge when he announced that Akio would be moving on to the next round. He'd make his way up to his teammates while the next match was announced and as it was revealed that Sasuke was going to be fighting another Leaf ninja, he'd nod his head at him as they passed one another.

"Good luck, Sasuke. Wipe the floor clean with him." He was gifted a smirk before Akio finally joined his sensei and teammates, a sigh leaving him as he moved to lean back against the wall as they simply stared at him.

"Yes?"

"You went easy on him."

"He was a talentless waste of space with no ability to speak of. I wasn't about to waste my energy or chakra on someone who couldn't even land a hit on me."

"I suppose he was rather pathetic. That makes me wonder if poor Haku was the one who got them through by doing all of the work. Or if he was just the weak link on their team. It could have been either one really." Yuuki mused before the judge announced that Sasuke's fight was about to begin, something that drew everyone's attention to the arena.

It became very clear very fast that things were going to be difficult for Sasuke.

Sasuke was pinned to the ground by the weird leaf ninja, the spectators of the match watching as his hand clamped down onto Sasuke's head, beginning to drain him of his chakra. Sasuke fell limp for a moment before somehow managing to build up enough strength to kick the guy off of him. They watched as Sasuke somehow managed to avoid the attacks from the older genin while Naruto mocked Sasuke in the background for looking weak, his taunting seeming to give Sasuke the push that he needed to end the match. He disappeared for a moment before appearing below the older genin, kicking him up into the air before slamming him down into the ground, knocking him unconscious. The judge chose to step in at that moment, declaring Sasuke the winner of the match before Kakashi suddenly appeared by Sasuke's side, reading his book while rejecting the medics that had come out to look at Sasuke and his opponent, stating that he'd take care of Sasuke before they carried his opponent away on a stretcher. He then calmly rejected Sasuke's request to stay and watch the rest of the matches before taking him away, something that made Yuuki's brow furrow once again before the proctors managed to pull his attention away as they stated that the next match was about to begin.

As they all looked towards the screen to see the names of the people who were expected to fight, his gaze widened as he saw his name on the screen.

Followed by a Hotaru Itou.

Oh god, he was supposed to be fighting a girl?

He immediately frowned, watching as the girl in question left Haku's side and as she made her way down the stairs, a long-suffering sigh left him. He swore under his breath as he made his own way down the stairs, standing across the arena from the admittedly very pretty girl, a brow rising as she seemed to be looking him over. He gifted her one of his polite smiles, that smile falling off his face seconds later when she fixed him with a dark look in response. His gaze became hooded in response, a flirty smile crossing his lips as the flirty persona he used as a mask came to the surface as a means of defense.

"You like what you see? I know that I'm good looking but maybe you should focus on your surroundings instead of just on me. Not that I mind you staring, you're a very pretty girl after all. In another world, maybe I'd offer to take you on a date after this." That smile faltered slightly as the girl merely scoffed at him before rolling her eyes.

"Please, I'm way out of your league. You're way too feminine for my taste. I like boys who actually look like boys."

Ouch.

"I was wondering how you even made it into these exams to begin with. I've heard stories about how you are a reject from Sunagakure who never takes anything seriously. I've heard that you flirt with any girl who has a pulse and that you're awful with anything that isn't genjutsu. The rumour is that the only reason why you were even allowed to get through the academy is because your parents died on a low-rank mission and the instructor felt bad for you. I'm wondering how the hell you made it this far. Or did your teammates carry you here?"

Oh, this witch was pushing her luck.

"Y-YOU! GAH! YUUKI KICK HER ASS! I DON'T CARE IF SHE'S A GIRL, DO IT! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU LOSE TO HER!" He couldn't help but smile when he heard Naruto's voice in the audience. He tilted his head back to smile at the energetic blonde, nodding once at him before the proctor told them that it was time for the match to begin. Much to his amusement, the girl immediately disappeared, causing him to chuckle softly as he stood completely still.

"Oh, you're fast~" He purred softly, his eyes falling closed as he allowed his chakra to switch quickly to sense the area around him. A smile slowly crossed his features as he immediately locked onto her foregin chakra signature behind him, causing him to quickly draw out his kunai from his pouch.

"But then again, so am I." He quickly dropped down as she moved to stab him in his shoulder, quickly slashing her in the stomach before jumping away from the now enraged kuniochi, making sure that there was a good amount of distance between the two of them as he smiled at her in mock sweetness.

If she thought he was going down easily, she had another thing coming.

* * *

The girl glared at him as she held the wound on her stomach before smirking once again as she vanished. It was then that Yuuki's gaze narrowed before he grinned in response, mind already racing as he quickly formed hand signs, waiting for the girl to reveal herself again and as she did it became apparent just how twisted she was. He watched wide-eyed as the blood-thirsty witch went straight for his face with her kunai, quickly putting up his free hand in order to protect his face from getting stabbed and as she stabbed his hand, he winced slightly before grinning as it was finally his turn to disappear, vanishing from the girl's line of sight.

It was then that a soft laughter began to plague the girl's senses while she tried her hardest to locate Yuuki. She flinched as she felt the ghost of his breath, cursed when she felt the faint brush of his touch, and yet despite everything, she could not seem to find him no matter what she tried. Her brow furrowed and her heart slowly began race before she finally seemed to recall just what the boy was known for. Finally, she brought her fingers up to dispel the genjutsu, quietly praying that this was just one of his cheap illusions.

"Release!"

"Mmm...Not bad. But you're a bit too late." She looked around her body only to find that in the time she had been captured within the genjutsu, the boy had managed to place paintings all around her and immediately, she knew that she was in trouble. The colors from what she could see, were far too vibrant to just be any average paint. Her gaze reluctantly left the paintings to fall upon the smirking form of the purple-haired illusionist, who merely tilted his head slightly in response before speaking.

"You said that I'm only known for my genjutsu and that the only skill I have is weaving illusions. You implied that I'm just a one trick pony and I can't say that I'm very happy to hear that. Why don't I just show you how real of a threat I am and why you should take me seriously?" He cooed sweetly, gaze darkening with malice as he formed the final sign of his secret jutsu.

"Hiden Technique: Art of Life!"

He watched as the paintings immediately reacted to the presence of his chakra, erupting from the canvas as vibrant vines spilled out onto the ground before shooting towards the girl, chasing her in her various attempts to dodge before managing to secure her in place, wrapping around her body and constricting her until she could no longer move. Once he was sure that she was trapped, he made his way over to her slowly, a dark smirk crossing his features as he cooed softly at the girl.

"Why don't you surrender now? I'd hate to have to subject you to anything else from my paintings. You see, my mind can be a very twisted place, especially when I'm angry-"

"-Go to hell! I'll never surrender to a loser like you!" Her words only made him sigh softly, shaking his head before he pouted playfully.

"What is it with all of the pretty girls having the absolute worst manners, I swear the only ones who are pretty and have a good personality are Yuna and S-"

"-Yuuki. Get on with this already. Stop wasting our time."

Oh, someone didn't like that he had called her pretty, did he?

Or maybe it was because he brought up Yuna?

Either way, his interference was enough to make him chuckle, the purple-haired boy shaking his head before he gifted Gaara a playful wink, even going as far as to blow a kiss up to him, an action that made everyone's jaws drop.

"Since you asked so sweetly, I suppose I have no choice. The things I do for you Gaara~" He purred playfully up at the red-head before turning his gaze back to the girl, his face losing all emotion as he bent down, pressing his hand to the vines and allowing his chakra fall down to his palm and mix with the chakra from his paintings.

The reaction was immediate.

The vines immediately shot up towards the ceiling, taking the screaming girl with them before stopping and curving, dangling the girl tauntingly over Yuuki as he pulled out another scroll. He allowed a bit of the blood from his injured hand to fall onto the scroll before it revealed another painting. The girl watched in horror as he poured his chakra into this painting, revealing four human-like figures as they slowly spilled out from the painting, though their figure were wispy and transparent, almost like smoke. For a moment they remained still, observing the trapped girl as if she were their prey before they gifted her a sweet smile and quickly disappeared one by one.

"I'll give you one more chance to surrender before I scare the living shit out of you~" He warned the girl cheerfully, smirking as he saw just how pale she was at seeing his little works of art come to life and yet, like a fool she clung onto to what little bit of courage she had left.

"F-Fuck off! I-I told you I'm n-not losing to you!" A sigh left him before he snapped his fingers and immediately, the vines erupted around her. Much to her horror, the wispy creatures from before were very much solid now, emerging from inside the vines as they surrounded her with sinister smiles, their normal features morphing into something demonic as they closed in on her, clawlike nails leaving painful sratches on her that left her bleeding, the creatures attacking her relentlessly and leaving her screaming as she thrashed trying to get away from their attack.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I GIVE UP! MAKE IT STOP!" Yuuki simply smiled up at her, leaning against the vines with his hands behind his back as he pretended to contemplate her words before sighing and snapping, forcing the creatures to disappear before the vines released her from their hold as they sank back into their painting, leaving the injured girl falling. For a moment, it looked as though Yuuki intended to simply let the girl hit the ground, then he'd gather chakra into his feet leaping up and catching her before landing smoothly as he smiled down at the terrified girl, an amused glint hiding in those blue eyes.

"Maybe next time you'll be more polite when you fight someone. Or better yet, maybe you'll learn to just be a better person." He mused darkly before dropping the girl carelessly onto the ground as she fainted, turning his gaze to the stunned proctor before smiling at him.

"I believe this is where you say I've won. Good job and announce that I'll be moving on, right?"

"R-Right. Um..the winner of the third battle is Yuuki Saito. He will be moving on to the next round." He gifted the proctor a warm smile before turning around and slowly making his way back up to the rest of the audience, his body aching from how much chakra that jutsu had taken him to use. He stopped for a moment as he finally reached the top of the stairs, body trembling softly as his hand helped him brace himself against the wall before deciding that this was probably as far as he was going to make it. With a sigh, he allowed his body to slide down the wall as his head fell back, ignoring the stares as he simply relaxed for a few moments.

"Yuuki! Are you okay?"

"You don't look too good."

His eyes opened and the moment he saw a worried Temari and Kankuro leaning over him he nearly asked them why he always seemed to find himself drawn to them. He sighed softly, eyes closing as his head fell back to rest against the wall once again.

"I'm fine. That was my first time using that jutsu in an actual battle so I had no idea just how much of my chakra it would take to actually use it in a fight. Never mind to actually have it do exactly what I want it to do. I'm going to have to make some serious modifications if I plan on using that jutsu more often."

Or maybe not paint giant vines ever again, that could work too.

"You should have left her to suffer more." A single eye opened as he saw Gaara leaning over him this time, fixing him with a very unamused look.

"If it were me, I would have left her at their mercy for a while longer."

"Good thing I'm not you." He mused quietly before he smirked at the younger boy.

"How did you like my little jutsu? And my little message for you during the match?"

"Your jutsu is unique. I am curious as to how you managed to come up with that idea. As for your message, you are a fool. But you are _my_ fool. I suppose I will just have to learn live with it since you will be mine for the rest of our lives."

That was..surprisingly sweet coming from him.

"By the way..what was it that you said about Yuna and that girl? I believe we need to talk since you seemed to not understand our earlier agreement regarding your philandering nature-"

"-O-Oh look! They're announcing the next match! Damn, we'll just have to have this talk later."

Haku vs Shino Aburame.

Oh, this was going to be fun.


End file.
